What happens when we run out of gas? We go and go and go until…
-we have no ‘nice’ left inside of us and what we don’t like starts creeping out
-we lay in bed exhausted, but can’t sleep
-relationships that have always been strong get strained, and we wonder what is wrong with ‘them’
-all the work in the world doesn’t seem to fix the problems
-our bodies start to ache in new places and ain’t NOBODY got time for that
A lot of the time, all of this is obvious to other people before it is to us – because we try to ‘power through’ so that we don’t let anybody down. So, what do we do when we finally get a clue? (like, I wonder why God has YOU reading this right now??? #clue). If some ‘self-care’ (aka a spa day and comfort food) alone won’t get the job done, regardless of what Instagram tells you, how does our soul get restored?
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalm 23: 1-3 NIV
The Lord (HE) does it! He restores our soul.
HOW?
1 – He makes us lie down.
Seriously, we have to get over this guilt of resting. Hey, work your tail off six days. Cool. But on day seven – rest FOR REAL! Sleep. Eat. Maybe take a nap. And eat, again. This was the prescription God gave his main man Elijah when he was tapped out. And God leads by example. He rested and then bragged about it in Genesis 2.
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”
Genesis 2:2 NIV
It worked for God, it worked for Elijah, and It will work for us, too.
2 – He leads us beside still waters.
As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water … (but you can’t make him drink – just in case you have never heard it). He offers us the washing of the water of the Word to refresh us and bring us peace. BUT he can’t make us partake of it. If your Word quotient is low (like maybe you skip this weekly email), you may need to think about restoring your soul with the Word – maybe even on a daily basis.
3 – He guides us in the paths of righteousness.
The ‘Nicole Translation’ of righteousness is ‘God’s rightness’. This means when we are resting, taking care of our bodies, and refreshing our spirit with the Word – chances are something will ‘occur to us’. Aka – God speaks His will for us to our hearts. A step. A move. A ‘do’. A ‘do not’. And as hard or easy as that step may SEEM, it will lead us into God’s rightness for our lives. It’s a peaceful path according to Luke 1:79.
“To shine on those in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Luke 1:79 NIV
Cosmo won’t give you this advice, but this is 100% GUARANTEED (by the Bible) to yield better results than you could ever get out of a magazine.
God wants to refresh and restore you and I want to help you, too (per usual, because I love being a helper!). But it’s up to YOU. Will you take the steps?
God knows if you needed some refreshment and good news. And this blog brought a lot of it…but there’s more; if you’re looking for a community that continues to speak into you, join us for our FREE I Am Woman DETOX event in St. Louis March 17th and West Palm Beach March 24th.
Love you!
