Even in the Even If…
Well, today’s been rough. It’s been a weird day. Not a bad day, necessarily, but not great.
You see, I’ve been sick the past few days & like with most colds, have struggled to sleep at night.
In desperation to get some rest, I prayed & asked God to please show me what I could do to help me sleep last night. The ideas I got were to take a hot shower & take some sleepy cold medicine (which sometimes doesn’t actually make me sleep, but rather feel groggy, miserable, & still awake).
So, I took the cold medicine, got my shower, & then fell asleep pretty quickly once I got in bed. (Thank You, LORD!)
… Until I woke up 3 hours before my alarm.
Well, I Got My Wish…
Groggy, discouraged, & consistently seesawing between coughing up mucus & blowing my nose seemingly endlessly, I reluctantly resigned to the fact that this may not be the night that I catch up on the rest I so desperately wanted in order to work towards moving past this cold of mine.
But God blessed me in that I at some point fell back asleep anyway.
… Only to wake up FIVE HOURS LATER… totally missing my alarm going off for TWO WHOLE HOURS, unbeknownst to me.
What does that mean for me? It means I sure got that rest I asked Him for… it means I didn’t get anything other than breakfast & prepping for work accomplished this morning… but it ALSO means I went through most of the afternoon feeling disoriented & feeling like I had just woken up from one of those naps where you intend to sleep for 30-60 minutes, only to wake up hours later completely dazed & confused… one of those “Where am I? What’s happening? What’s going on?” type of wakeups.
And that dazed & confused state quickly morphed into a migraine, which I have been wrestling with the entire rest of my day.
I’m not feeling so great.
Well, I Had a Hard Day… & God Saw Me Through
I’m sure my body appreciated all that extra rest to help it heal & to fight this cold off, but boy am I not feeling so great.
Cooling compression mask, headache meds, & an ACTUAL quick nap later… & I feel somewhat coherent, but still if I move my head too quickly, the jackhammer currently residing inside my head makes me want to vomit.
Why am I telling you this, though? What’s my point?
Life doesn’t always feel great. It doesn’t always work out the way we would wish it to. Some people deal with significant pain every single day even.
I think of Job right now because that’s what we’re reading through right now.
The boils on his body were oozing & painful… I think it even mentions worms somewhere in there. Giant EW.
It can be tempting in these moments to wonder where God is in all of it… why He doesn’t show up & fix everything back to easy & comfortable.
But God shows me He cares for me in that He doesn’t always fix it all for me… God lets me see that even when my world is painful & hard & I feel weak & hurt… He is sufficient in it.
God Is God, Even When I Have Nothing to Contribute
God isn’t just God over the times when you feel strong & capable, working “together,” but even when you have nothing to give Him.
I think that’s a reason why God emphasizes rest so often in the Bible because true faith doesn’t say, “because I have faith, I will do all the things,” but rather, “because I have faith, I can trust God even when I can’t/don’t do all the things.”
Not to be lazy, but to be rested fully in Him.
He is the Provider, Sustainer of all things.
He does not need me.
Praise God.
Even when I am weak, I am strong.
Because I have faith… in HIM.
I Sure Got That Rest I Prayed for… & Then God Took Care of the Rest
And you know what? I got that rest I prayed so desperately for. I didn’t get a lick of anything else done this morning… but I got that rest… & there’s always tomorrow. The world won’t fall apart because I didn’t get my chores done. Today… today I needed physical rest so my body could heal.
And you know what else? I got a call to sub today vs my normal job as an aide for the second grade team at the school I work at. A sub for high school… which meant I didn’t have to move about the classroom, walk to & from recess, hear loud children’s excited voices, or handle noisy carline at the end of the day. I got to sit & REST.
I introduced myself, took roll, played a video for them, & they worked quietly. I didn’t have to move around, think, or handle loud noises. I got to REST.
God knew my day was going to be hard because of all that extra rest… & God provided anyway in that hard.
Is Your True Rest in HIM?
The jackhammer is quieting. I am writing. And I am thanking God for sustaining me through my day without needing my contributions.
Is your true rest in Him? Or yourself? Where do you rely?
Do you trust Him as more than able when your contribution ability is taken out of the picture? Are you able to rest when He gives you no other options?
Do you have faith… in Him?
I would have loved to have slept through the night, waking up refreshed & done with my cold, ready to ably face my day head on… but it didn’t quite work out that way… & yet, God handled it… God provided… God saw me through it.
Even when things don’t work out quite right, I can always count on Him through it all. Even in the hard.
Do you trust God to do the same for you?
Shine HOPE by leaning into Him & trusting Him to give you rest, & to be your all, even when you have none to offer Him.
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
***He is waiting for you… will you come?:***
***(Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; John 14:6)***
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Archway Necklace, Handcrafted in INDIA
The Archway Necklace creates fair-paying, dignified jobs for women in India. This gold-tone pendant necklace features a beautiful arch pendant with a sunrise scene on it, symbolizing the new beginnings each day brings.
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