Cyclical Reboot Mode?

Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most. (Psalm 23:1-3 TLB)

"Because" is a big word in the hand of Jesus! Because we are his, we have all we need - everything - nothing missing or incomplete or lacking in any manner. We are secure in this knowledge, my friends. We are allowed to rest - not made to rest, but allowed to rest. There are times when God guides me to take times of rest, because he knows without it, I will be on a downward slope toward burnout. I imagine the same to be true for each of you. We can all get a little too over zealous in our pursuits. Right now I have a couple of projects in mind, several started, and a bunch almost complete, but not quite there yet. If I don't manage these well, something gets left 'undone' or 'half-done'. God helps us have times of rest so that we get to the place of not leaving anything undone that needs to be done!

Last night my tablet took it upon itself to go into some 'warp speed' rebooting mode repeatedly. Right in the middle of what I was enjoying (a game of solitaire), it started this continual cycle of rebooting and rebooting. The problem is that NONE of the reboots allowed me to reset the device so it would stop doing this cyclical reboot. There are times I feel like I am doing a cyclical reboot in my own life - just spinning and spinning - but never really getting to the point that things 'set' so I can move on. How about you? Are there times when you just need to be led into rest? I bet there are more times than you might first recognize. God took you there without much resistance most of the time, but those times when you just were spinning out of control like my tablet were the times you probably remember most. Why? You needed those times the most! You were spinning and nothing was getting 'set' in your life.

It is in the moments of well-deserved and much-needed rest that God actually renews us, but he also is moving in our lives to help us learn what it is we need to 'do' next. He uses these times of rest to set our minds into focused renewal - spirit following suit - body finding a similar type of regeneration complete with enough energy to complete what is ahead. We might think we don't need these times of rest - because we have so much to accomplish. "BECAUSE" we have so much to accomplish is the exact reason for the "BECAUSE" of God's pulling us into that place of rest. He allows us those restful moments 'because' of the 'because'. If we all want to get to the place we are consistently doing what brings honor to God, then we need to heed these places of rest and actually settle back into that rest. It is there we learn how to honor him - it is there we are taught - it is there we are most open to hearing what he wants to show us.

At 4 this morning, my mind was spinning on all the projects I'd like to accomplish today. I have four cupboards to finish the sorting and relocation of stuff in the garage; a cabinet in mom's bathroom that needs the bottom lined anew; a desire to clean and organize a couple kitchen cabinets that have 'gotten out of control'; sheets to wash and beds to make; clothes to launder, hang up, and iron; lunch and dinner to prepare; a refrigerator that needs a good scrub down; and the list could go on for about another four inches. Instead of bouncing up, after being awake a great deal of the night because of the neighbor's barking dog, I rolled over, told my mind to shut off a while, and slept in until 6:30 (a rarity for this gal). God was reminding me that I was in a 'reboot cycle' that needed to finish the cycle and I shouldn't resist it! Maybe we all need a little extra leading into rest by the one who knows how to give us perfect rest! Just sayin!