12 May Realigning to God’s Best

Rest is one of those things we know we need but never get enough.

No matter how much I sleep or how long I “unwind,” I still feel exhausted. 

But, if you’re like me, you think rest is just downtime or sleep, but apparently, sleep is just one part of the rest requirement. 

I’ve been reading the book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, and she says that there are seven types of rest that we need: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, creative. 

When we are missing or even just not properly utilizing any one of these areas of rest, it can cause us to feel off or exhausted. 

Here are some snippets from her book:

• We’ve conditioned ourselves to disregard the signs our bodies give us and push through to the point of exhaustion or damage.
• Healing occurs when we allow ourselves the time, space, and grace to be in the presence of God in the middle of our busy lives.
• Rest is an opportunity to put back in order anything that has shifted out of alignment with God’s best.
• Setting rest boundaries are not only healthy; they are also holy and sacred. 

I love that Saundra emphasizes that the foundation of rest is in our relationship with God. Resetting is getting realigned to His best. 

God created us to desire Him and find rest in Him, so it only makes sense that rest is fulfilled by seeking Him and honoring Him with what we do. 

So the big question for us all is, “Are you honoring God with your time and abilities by taking time to rest and realign to Him?”

I can tell you right now that my answer is no. But I really want to work on this. I need to work on this.

I need to reconnect to God in a way that refreshes my soul and nourishes my heart and mind. My to do list guides my time instead of God guiding my to do list.  

My time with God right now is reflected in my exhaustion. I rush through reading and praying instead of dwelling in the comfort of His presence and letting Him speak to me and quiet me.

How about you?

How does your life reflect your time with God?

Do you need to realign to Him?

Let’s do this together.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Find out which area of rest you need — take the quiz!

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Susan E. Greenwood is a wife, a mother, and a mother-in-law :D. She has over 28 years experience in youth and children’s ministries. Susan loves to write blogs, articles, devotionals, and curriculum. She has blogged for bible.org, and authors Mary Demuth, Lynn Cowell and Ruth Schwenk. Susan writes regularly for skitguys.com. Her passion is to help people live their Life In Stride with the Word of God.