Want to Rest? DO Something!

Thursday October 25, 2012


Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?

Seems like if you want to rest, you should do nothing.

My reading of The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan convinced me otherwise.

If you’re busy, stressed, overloaded, and you don’t want to be, you first have to change your mind. Decide to make a change in your thinking.

But then you have to put that change into practice. Buchanan calls these practices “gestures which honor our fresh ways of perceiving.” He writes that such practices “make real our change of mind.”

One of the practices Buchanan suggests is paying attention.

Take time to look around, to see, to perceive. When we stop and look around, when we notice the small and appreciate what others see as insignificant, we can’t help but be content—rested—in what we have and do and are.

Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts got me thinking about paying attention, about the small and seemingly insignificant. As I mentally listed the little things around me and gave thanks for them, my Creator loomed larger. He was responsible for so much more than I had even considered. I saw that He has gifted me and my world with SO much.

How could I not be content, rested?

So, look around you, take in the small, be grateful, and join in the rest.

2 comments:

Jerralea said...

When I saw that you mentioned paying attention, I knew you would mention Ann Voskamp and 1,000 Gifts. I've been paying attention, too, and it does seem to really make me feel better when I see the awesome world which God surrounds me.

Love this series on rest!

Zara C said...

Lovved reading this thanks

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