Finding Your Way to His Presence: Allowing ourselves to Rest

Happy Sunday, aka the best day of the week, #becomingtribe! Today is our last day of this Devo series: Finding Your Way to His Presence. It truly has been amazing sharing our hearts and getting real with all of you. We hope that you have enjoyed them as much as we have! If you’ve missed the first 5 Devo's, make sure to check them out here > Find Your Way to His Presence: Recognizing His Voice | Being Consistent & Sacrificing Perfection | In the Word | Seeing Him in Everyday Life. Also, we have a FREEBIE for you below!

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Rest. Ever feel like you could do that for a whole month? I know I certainly do. Ever read this verse and pray for the Lord to give you rest, but then not being willing to “come to him” like the first part of this verse beckons? Me too.

I think that’s what I love most about the Lord. He isn’t asking us to be perfect when we come to Him- and THEN He will give us rest. His papa heart simply wants us to come. He knows we are weary and burdened without him- so the solution? Come. As we are. And He will give us everything we need. Just come.

I’m twenty years old and literally have such a busy schedule that, for my age, is unreal to me half of the time. Confession? I get stressed so easily and probably want to cry about once a week because of it. This is. real. life. friends.

I don’t know about y’all, but I am so guilty of wanting to get that To-Do list done that I just don’t make time to rest. And I think the key here is realizing that the rest scripture is talking about here isn’t just a “take a nap, do nothing all day” kind of rest. Although that’s sometimes the position we have to take. It’s a rest for our spirits. A surrendering of the busyness and stress in return for the rest our entire being is craving.

When I let my busyness take over, weariness isn’t far behind. And I get to my breaking point of being overwhelmed, and cry out to the Lord.

Why do we feel like we have to complete everything in one day? Do it all, be it all.

Friends, hear this. We don’t. You don’t. We weren’t created to exist off of our own strength. We were created, literally molded, to find our strength while RESTING in Him.

Let’s be honest. Culture isn’t getting simpler. We have to be willing to be intentional in taking time to rest our minds and our spirits. Taking the Sabbath seriously.

What better way to find our way to His presence then in resting? Simply coming. And being with Him. Let’s go against the grain. Let’s encounter Him together by pursuing the things that matter. Let’s do it together. I promise you- it’s okay to rest and to say no to things. I’m speaking to myself right now too, you are not alone friend.

What a coincidence that this devotional is on a Sunday, which in the Bible is the Sabbath Day (meaning rest). Let’s find some strength today.

Some Practical steps to Resting: 

Put away the To-Do list. Take an afternoon, an evening, a few hours. And let whatever is, be.
Find your way to your source. Take a few deep breaths and surrender your “to-dos” to Him. Allow Him to breath strength into your spirit as you take a second to breath. Read your Bible and pray the verse above.
 Do whatever helps you settle down and be able to enjoy your rest. Listen to worship music, watch a movie, spend time with your people, go and sit on the beach if you’re near one, lay down and take a nap, read a book. Put your body and mind at ease. It’s okay. We need this.
Ask the Lord to give you rest after you’ve come to Him. Then allow yourself to receive whatever He may have to say. Sometimes it’s when we take the time to rest- that we hear the guidance we’ve been craving.

Don't miss this gorgeous FREE Calligraphy Print, we have for you to download! It's our heart in a print & hopefully it encourages you like it does us! Download HERE!

Weekly Challenge: Let’s go deeper together! Answer the question below in the comments & we’ll chat together about it. What is holding you back from resting?

Then, today, I really challenge each of you to carve out time to simply just rest and get intimate with the Lord. Let us know in the comments what you did to rest and how it made you feel.

XO,

Makaela