August 26
“Courage doesn’t always roar, sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering “I’ll try again tomorrow…” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
You know, for most of my life, tomorrow will come. There will on be one time and one time only when it will not. Those aren’t bad odds, really. Understanding that I can be at times the world’s foremost authority on the subject of procrastination, this isn’t a devotion on the merits of procrastinating or on putting things off. But given my own mind-set and temperament, I also happen to be an authority on dwelling on today’s mistakes and the doom that many of my tomorrows seem to hold over me. In short – I over think most things. It’s a problem.
There are times when it takes great courage to face tomorrow knowing what potentially awaits me, whether I’ve prepared well or put things off. The sense of dread and doom remain the same, actually. I am so busy using the failure of today as proof that tomorrow will be no better and I can exhaust myself until I literally can’t think straight. But there are two things that God gives me in these moments: He gives me the promise of today and He gives me rest. There is no promise of tomorrow until it turns into today, so really, whether I awake or not doesn’t matter. If I don’t wake to see tomorrow, I am in the best of all places and if I find myself fortunate and blessed enough to get to rise and see the day, I awake with that fresh, new promise of His that every provision and need will be given me by the Lord to handle today. In these moments, God also gives me rest; but rest hinges upon what I will do with it. Will I spend it toiling and thinking and worrying? Or can I learn to recognize these moments – sometimes even days – of rest when He offers it to me? God tells us to set aside time to rest, but we still have to take that action step of actually setting aside our schedules and activities to give our bodies, minds and souls time to take advantage of getting renewed and refueled.
How are we managing our moments of rest? What am I doing in those moments of rest? Am I dwelling on the holiness of my God and deciphering the magnificent plan He has laid before me or am I wasting away this valuable time He gives in idleness and complacency; worry and fretting? There is always work to be done but sometimes I think I work when He wants me to rest and rest when there is much work to be done. In the end, I think God just throws up His hands and allows me to go about my business, maybe figuring that eventually – when I’ve finally exhausted myself – perhaps I’ll have no place to turn but to Him! Thankfully, there is a decent possibility that if I’ve mishandled things today, I’ll probably get a brand new opportunity to fully take advantage of His Rest, His Power and all He offers tomorrow!
Peace, SAG
Today’s Scripture: Leviticus 23:3
“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.
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