Queen, this message is both for you and for me. I know from the title that whatever God is about to tell us and where Holy Spirit is about to lead us is going to be right up both of our alleys. So…. Are you ready to hear a word from God? Quiet your mind, open your heart, and focus on this message, and let it resonate in your heart.
“My daughter, listen to me and hear me with an open heart. I have called you to a season of rest. Your body and your mind is tired. I don’t want you to continue to push your body beyond its limits. That’s why I commanded you to rest. Man would have you to slave over work without end, which weakens your body. You are more susceptible to demonic attacks when your body is weak. The enemy has a plan for you when you refuse to rest. I cannot be made full when you go against my commandments. The time is coming when man will try to change my commandments, so I want you to hold them in your heart so that the enemy can’t tempt you. You are powerful when you obey me. I have not called you to mark all of your days with work, man has. I the Lord your God have called you to honor the Sabbath and rest. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Learn my principles when it comes to rest. Be patient with me, and in turn you will experience a peace that will exceed your understanding. Close your eyes and listen. Do you hear me? I am here in your stillness, I am here. I can be heard most when you drop the weight of the world and focus on me. Abide in me and I will abide in you.”
Sis, this has never been something I honored. Actually taking a whole day to rest. My whole life I’ve been trained to be productive, you’re not successful if you don’t work, get ahead of everyone else by working while everyone else is asleep, the list goes on. You may have been like me and actually felt guilty if you took a nap or sat down for longer than 10 minutes. Especially as a woman, we were programmed to be the helper, right? Day in and day out we push our bodies to keep going, keep cooking, keep cleaning, keep working, keep doing, doing, doing. You fill in the blank.
When I was going through my wilderness season, God spoke to me much like how he spoke in this message. He told me that he didn’t call me to find success in my busyness. He told me that what the world calls productive and success is foolish to Him. He told me to rest. I asked him what that looked like for me and what was I actually supposed to do and he told me to seek Him. He told me to pray, read, listen to Him, meditate on Him and the heavenly places, sit in nature, journal and write, sleep, and disconnect. What my rest looks like may not be the same for you. I advise literally asking him what to do. So often when people tell you to ask God for yourself, people tend to brush the actual act under the rug. I really encourage you to though. Seek Him expectantly and He will make himself be heard. You don’t have to search too far. So often we look to prophets and seers to tell us what God wants us to hear and know, that’s all fine and dandy but what about your relationship with Him? How do you think they got those spiritual gifts? Many of them asked for them. Many of them caught God in the secret place and in the end He made himself known to those who sought him.
Breathe sis. The weight of the world is not yours to carry. Let it go. Release it. God needs you to rest. He wants to use you but you won’t be at your fullest potential if you don’t learn to rest.
I kid you not, the Sabbath has become my favorite day of the week now. I yearn to seek God’s face all day and to rest without guilt. I love resting my spirit and body. I appreciate my life way more because of the Sabbath. My life has changed because of it.