Whether you want to be or not, you’re right smack in the middle of the Christmas season. Do you find yourself feeling rushed? Overwhelmed?
I’ve got to finish my shopping!
I’ve got to get this house cleaned up before my family arrives!
Get out of the kitchen so I can bake the cookies!
We have three Christmas parties to attend on the same day!
If you’re anything like me, just thinking about everything that needs to be done can leave you feeling exhausted. It’s almost impossible to escape the holiday rush.
There’s an ache in my soul because of this! Do you know what I mean?
It’s that pull between everything that has to be done and everything your heart longs for.
A battle between rush and rest.
Are you kidding me? There’s no time to rest during the holidays!! How in the world can you think about rest at such a time as this?
But if we let the holiday rush overtake the Christmas rest, then everything we are doing is in vain.
I’ve often thought that embracing rest meant that I had to carve out a huge block of time for a nap.
Or that I had to sit completely still with my feet up.
Maybe you’ve thought of rest as getting to turn off your alarm and sleep in.
But I’m learning that embracing rest is more about having a peace in my soul.
Maybe I can’t take anything off my busy to-do list this Christmas season, but I can shift my attitude about those things.
Instead of rushing out the door with a frantic sense of urgency, maybe I can pause for just a few moments to pray.
God, I’m feeling frustrated, anxious and exhausted! Please give me your peace.
Instead of feeling burdened about baking dozens of cookies, perhaps I can turn on some music and pray for the people I’m making them for.
God, help me have an attitude of love as I bake these cookies!
Maybe we really do have to attend multiple parties on the same day. But instead of thinking of them as places to go, we can see them as opportunities to love people.
Lord, help me to show love to those who need it most. Give me your eyes to see those you want me to see.
The days leading up to the birth of Jesus without a doubt brought a sense of urgency.
We’ve got to hurry! Will there be a place for us to stay?
Mary and Joseph most certainly felt a heavy burden of having to travel at the last-minute. And I’m sure they battled anxious thoughts of this new chapter of life God was calling them into.
Why me? Couldn’t he have picked someone else? What will people think when we return to Nazareth?
What appeared to be a messed up plan, absent of any peace, was God ushering in the Prince of Peace.
Right in the middle of the rush. Right in the middle of the urgency. Right in the middle of their worry.
And the same Prince of Peace that came on that first Christmas morning is the same Prince of Peace that can bring us REST in the midst of our holiday RUSH.
So what’s it going to be for you this year? Rush or Rest? Anxiety or Peace?
I encourage you to carve out some quiet moments in the midst of your busy schedule to embrace the PEACE and REST only Jesus can bring. That’s what He came for!
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Blessings to you!
Lisa
Check out my devotional book, Embracing The Race
Lisa Preuett~Rest Stop for the Soul 