Tag: rest

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Quiet Waters

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The beautiful thing about hiding God’s word in your heart and mind is that it seeps into the little mundane moments of a day and transforms it. Here’s a scripture you probably already know:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.  Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23, a Psalm of David.

I’ve been praying this psalm, whispering it actually, all week as I prayed for people trapped in the conflict in Afghanistan. I’ve prayed it for the families of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Kabul attack—25, 23, 22’s, and five twenty-year old killed evacuating civilians because our government left all our military gear and withdrew troops before civilians. God help them, guide them, comfort them as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death. It is such a tender psalm, especially knowing that David, the author, had seen so much trouble and heartache in his life.

I was hiking this week with my dog, Sophie. We went up to Pioneer Cabin outside of Ketchum, Idaho. What a beautiful climb through the trees and wildflowers, up 3000 ft vertical over a seven-mile hike.  Several times we crossed over or next to streams and each time I stopped so Sophie could drink. But it’s funny with a little dog, you have to choose a bend in the stream where the water is not rushing rapidly. If the water is too fast, she’s afraid and won’t drink, even though she is thirsty. While I was carefully bringing her to the right sections of water, God’s word came bubbling up in my mind: He leads me beside quiet waters.  Turns out that sheep are similar with little dogs in that they need still water to drink. And maybe people need a safe and quiet place to be refreshed as well. That’s why the Lord is our shepherd. He carefully and tenderly leads us to rest and replenishment. When we are exhausted by a wicked and unjust world, God thoughtfully leads us into a place of peace. When life is wearing us down we can remember that He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies.

How has God brought you to quiet waters recently? Starting the day praying Psalm 23 out loud can be our choice to center our lives peacefully in His word. Blessings to you this week my friends. Be sure to sign up for my blog to hit your email rather than social media

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Need a Break? Pt. 2

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Is the Sabbath relevant to Christians today? We ask the question like it is some bitter pill we must swallow, while the world outside is literally tripping over itself to market concepts of rest, self-care, mindfulness, gratitude, laughter therapy and other such shadows.

Christians, come on—let’s enjoy our beautiful heritage! From the very creation of the earth God modeled a Sabbath rest. Jesus said the Sabbath was made FOR us. (Mark 2:27) This gift of rest includes two facets: to stop working and to draw near in relationship to God. One day a week stop working! This requires faith though. How will we stay competitive if we take a day off? Our fear about performance roots into our identity whether a farmer, a Silicon Valley techie, or a minister. Few Christian businesses take this bold approach to obedience. Few individuals enjoy a truly restful, spiritual respite in their week.

My friend Shinae and her husband were compelled to build the rhythm of a weekly Sabbath into their young family after hearing a message on creating margin. She shared, “The Holy Spirit deeply touched our hearts about taking a full day off and relaxing spiritually, mentally, and physically on the Sabbath. Rather than doing our work and schoolwork on Sundays we finish by Saturday night. On Sunday we go to church, spend family time together hiking and biking. We invite friends over, read, and so on.” She ended with this, “I truly believe that taking a full Sabbath makes our family’s life more abundant and enjoyable.” 

One day in seven we design to look like heaven. Go ahead, imagine heaven and make your Sabbath mirror it– joy, peacefulness, childlike hope, laughter and wonder in the glorious presence of Christ the King. The believer’s rest includes a rest from strivings, a rest from fear, rest from working out a righteousness of your own, a rest from sorrow. As we place a boundary around this focused time, ask: Is our heart softened to hear God’s voice?  Are we positioned to receive from God Almighty? Can we offer Him the praise and honor due His Name? We set a boundary around our Sabbath to think higher, dream bigger, love more deeply, and find our stride with God.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night…” (Psalm 92, A song for the Sabbath day.)

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If you need resources on how to walk closely with God, check out my book Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion. It can be found anywhere books are sold, or at http://www.MargaretAllen.org.

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Need a Break?

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I don’t mind working from home, it’s living at work that wears me out! Are you just done? Over it? Needing an infusion of creativity, energy, and vision? I know of something that helps, but my answer may surprise you. This is a habit that productivity consultants and the Bible agree on.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20)

Before our mind races to an image of people huddled around their Bible by candlelight, consider what it could look like for us to take a Sabbath. In my book, Gracious Living, I describe a process: “My husband and I made small changes in habits and reaped the family benefits of this gift of the Sabbath. We purposed to make Sunday a restful day. That meant the tiny changes of finishing all the laundry by Saturday, choosing not to get online or watch television, and instead having family night where we played games, worshipped, and had devotions. Andy and I used to laugh that we couldn’t buy a nap on Sundays, but we sure tried!” I’ll add that we also skipped dinner on Sunday evenings as a way to lessen the work load while also modeling prayer and fasting to our children.

Dear Parents, if our kids are doing school online all week, they need a break from technology. How can we possibly develop a healthy family culture if we are never all together in an undistracted environment? “Those Sabbath days we not only modeled how to listen to God and enjoy His nearness, but also how to listen to each other and enjoy each other’s friendship.  It trained each of us to live in a mindful, restful, reflective rhythm each week. It gave us permission to pull out of frantic busyness and breathe. Embracing the grace and rest of a weekly Sabbath filled us with the energy to give others grace throughout the week.” (From Gracious Living, p. 96) Not only is our personal life energized by this day set apart, but also our professional life. Productivity experts advise executives to take a day with no texts, emails, or work calls to evaluate the big picture, birds-eye view of life.

As working from home and living at work have blurred any sense of normalcy, setting up a boundary like a Sabbath will actually increase our creativity and zest for life. Interestingly, Jesus said “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) This boundary was designed by God FOR us. Jesus described the Sabbath as a gift to help us rest and savor life. It is not meant to be a rigid ruleset that confines our activities. Rest is a good thing. Reflection and mindful living are good things! Consider enjoying a Sabbath this month and record what you discover.

I would love to hear how you have created a pattern of rest in your life. Does anyone else follow a Sabbath? Let us hear from you! Share any habits that have worked for you and your family.

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I talk about ways to walk closely with God in my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion. It is available anywhere books are sold. http://www.margaretallen.org

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The Rona Got Me Down

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In the fourth week of sheltering in place, I crashed. I folded to the forces of apathy, disorientation, and despair. Oh, I started this forced sabbatical with plenty of grit and gratitude: I came screeching in from traveling through Israel with a group of godly women on pilgrimage. Our trip abruptly ended due to Corona fears and I wanted to kiss the ground when I finally made it home. I felt the same gratitude when my middle daughter emerged from a wilderness trek in the mountains of Patagonia and raced for home.

Like many families, we are juggling multiple schedules as all of us are working from home. We each carved out a work space: my husband took the office, piling up yearbooks to build a computer stand for his laptop. My oldest daughter established her space on the kitchen counter, my youngest daughter sits with her laptop on the back porch as she finishes out her senior year at USC, virtually. Likewise, my son is finishing his senior year of high school online, alone at the kitchen table. My traveling daughter is pacing the floor. We have night owls binge watching Netflix, while I am the early bird, up to meet with God. None of us are sleeping well.

The transition we are navigating is difficult, albeit healthy in ways. From eating out at least four times a week, we are now cooking every meal together. We’ve reluctantly returned to chore lists like when the kids were young. We worship together several times a week to stay encouraged. New skillsets are emerging. We’ve learned all about Zoom. We finally opened up a slackline kit we got for Christmas. We tried to do a puzzle and remembered we all hate puzzles. My son wrapped chicken pineapple sausage in bacon, cooking it to a perfectly glazed crisp. “Maybe I should be a chef” he exclaimed after relishing the last bite. All of these adjustments take place in the privileged position of relative stability—relationally, financially, physically, and spiritually.

What I’ve learned about myself in this “new normal”: even though I teach moms You are the thermostat of your house. You set the temperature for your family life! The truth is, I’m a thermometer. I’m not setting the temperature, I’m measuring it. Constantly! All the grief and anger my two seniors feel about missing the last hooray of school continually register on my radar. I’m feeling the sadness of my oldest daughter that her June wedding will most likely be postponed. I feel the anguish of my traveler as she’s like an eagle locked in a tiny cage. I’m feeling the stress of my husband working ten-hour days in a makeshift office. I’m feeling everyone’s frustration about our crappy internet and missing their friends.

I’m deeply grateful that we are all healthy, safe, employed, and together. Yes, of course, we are going to make it through this difficult time. But damn, the ache of all this Rona Recoil hangs heavy on my heart. In many ways, I’m not the strong leader that I thought I was. Today I’m trying to shake off the temperature I’m sensing and set it by something greater, something stronger and eternal: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) I’m running, maybe crawling, into His strong tower. I hope that you are running into His Presence, Safety, Provision, and Rest this week! Bless you my friends!