Hello old friends, new followers and fellow bloggers- 

Life can be filled with what I like to call: the madness.  A tangled mess of distractions, chaos, frustration and just pure annoyance.  Well, how do we deal with this madness??? It’s not like we can pack our bags and head to Mars, yet..  Anyways, we have to learn how to tune all of the madness out and find rest again.  Rest.  Oh the sweet word that I seem to never get enough of, oh I wish my mind, body and soul knew a thing or two about rest.  Rest was so important that God instituted rest into the very act of creation.  Genesis 2:3 states, “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” So… rest was so important to God that He rested himself.  Rest is what we need, yet rest is what we lack the most. Rest is the cure for the madness! 

Ladies and gents, I think I may have solved a lot of our problems in the world by stating the obvious.  We need to rest.  Rest allows our bodies to heal faster, rest allows our minds to think sharper and rest allows our spirits to worship more freely.  Rest is the cure. Welp, that sounds very easy and grand but I find myself fighting to rest. For example, if  I lay down for a quick nap- that’s the time the friend in need calls.  Ot, as soon as I am entering into my quiet time with the Lord, I get a new social media notification that is vying for my attention instead.  Or, how about this one?  When I’m sick and I know I should go to bed early to heal, but I have so much to do, that I work through my sickness prolonging my recovery.  Rest or lack thereof.  Some of us, lay down to go to sleep and can’t because the cares of the world are weighing so heavy on our minds.  Sometimes, we go to sleep and wake up even more tired.  All of these things reveal a lack of rest, true rest.

The Hebrew word for rest is nuach which means to settle down, remain, be quiet, and to have rest.  This is the same type of rest described in Psalm 23 (see below for the entire song).  The rest and security of a sheep (us) lying in the presence of our shepherd (the Father). That is the desire of the Father, that we find true rest and security in Him.  He desires that we rest.  Though, finding rest may be hard sometimes- we find rest when we find Him.  Rest is in Him.  I encourage you all today, as you embark into the madness to rest.  Rest knowing that God has your back.  There is no need to worry, there is no need to fret- you can rest knowing that everything is going to be okay.  It is-trust me! There is something so freeing when we learn to rest, when we learn to let go of our cares and worries and relax knowing that all things are going to work for our good.  It is in these moments that we overcome the madness, that we conqueror against the cares of the world.  Let’s aim to rest in Him! 

 The Lord is my shepherd;
   I have all that I need.
 He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
     He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
 Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord

Until next time,

Simone

FIC: https://c.tadst.com/gfx/750w/chaos-never-dies-day.jpg?1