Hello all. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, there’s just been a lot going on and I just haven’t felt the motivation to. I am back in America. My squad and I safely arrived on Wednesday and we are enjoying our first days back in quarantine. I’ll give more updates on what our departure was like and what my days have looked like since being back once quarantine is over. I will say that I have had zero contact with other people. I won’t expose myself to others until the two weeks are up just so that I’m keeping everybody around me safe.
I expected to come home and hit the road running. I had 3 months worth of time to make up for and a lot of people to see. However, as we all know, being back home is not looking like that. It is looking like a lot of rest. I’ve had so much time to adjust back and just wrap my mind around what was happening. Culture shock is a thing, especially coming back to a society that’s not exactly the way you remembered it being when you left.
My life in the past month and a half has consisted of a lot of downtime and rest. In the beginning, I felt like I was just straight up bored. What do you mean I can’t watch Netflix or be on social media for the three hours in between ministry? Wait so I’m done with ministry at 6 and there’s nothing else for me to go do after that? I was constantly looking for something to do. Let’s just say that by taking that approach, my first few weeks were exhausting. I was constantly pouring out and I just felt drained. However, I eventually got the hang of rest. Based on our society, we refer to rest as being lazy. We don’t allow ourselves to just sit and be. Rest is so important for our spiritual walk. It is in the moments of rest that we able to renew our spirits and recenter our focus on what it is important. I noticed some major differences in my days when I rested and when I didn’t allow myself to slow down. On the no rest days, I would approach tasks with sometimes a lazy or bitter spirit. I would think, “man, I really have to husk all these coconuts right now?” or “I really wish that I wasn’t doing this right now.” I know, those are harsh things to think but I was all kinds of drained. However on the days of rest, I was eager and renewed and I wanted to do those things. I’m not saying that rest automatically put me in the best mood for everything, but it just helped me to remember why I was there. I was a small piece of such a larger puzzle and what I was doing to help mattered. God wanted me to be there and I was working for Him.
What did my rest look like? I read my Bible. I read a lot of books. I listened to many podcasts. Of course there was some Netflix in there. I played games with my squad. I worked out. I napped. Sometimes, I literally just sat there. Each moment of rest was different but each time I just did something that I normally wouldn’t take time out of my day to do. If I was feeling good, I would be social and do something fun. On the days I was feeling discouraged, I’d slap open the Bible and see what encouraging words the Lord had for me for that day. Needless to say, it was in the moments of rest that I reached my arm the farthest towards the Lord. I began to recognize all that I was accomplishing during those moments. I wasn’t being lazy, I was doing what I needed in order to feel completely myself and completely ready to dive into the next ministry.
That was a lot and I’m not really sure if I’m getting my point across. Just remember that rest is a blessing. It is something that God gives to the believers. Go to Him and we will find rest. Eventually our society will go back to normal. Everybody will jump back on the ever moving train full of high expectations, long job hours, human disappointment and exhaustion. Our society loves distractions. Satan loves distracting you. It’s easy to fill up our days with so many things that we leave no time for God. I am 100% guilty. I felt so much conviction when I realized that it killed me to just sit and not do anything. I craved distractions. We will yearn for these days that we actually felt like we could breathe and enjoy time. It’s not easy to adjust to right now but once you accept that rest does not equal laziness, you’ll enjoy it so much more. God is literally slapping our society in the face and just telling us to slow down. Tomorrow will come but we will never get today back. The next party, function, appointment, due date will come. We don’t need to wish our days along and miss what the current day holds for us. EMBRACE THE REST, it can be quite fun. I encourage you to find the passages in the Bible about rest. Genesis, Exodus, Psalm, Hebrews, and many other places. I know you’ve got a lot more rest time on your hands so you’ve got time to slap that Bible open. It’s quite an interesting read.
Hope y’all have a happy and restful day. Your Wednesday will thank you for taking your Tuesday rest time seriously. Much love, more updates to come.
