When we try to cram as much activity as we canfit into every waking moment, we are left with no space to reflect and process our days. - P172
Friend, to recover joy,
I encourage you to recover the discipline of keeping the Sabbath.
- P172
Building a healthy spiritual life requires that you add certain activities to yourschedule, like reading the Bible, praying, and going to church, but you must alsosubtract some activities from your life. - P172
Can you commit to being on your phonefor only six-sevenths of the time you
have been averaging the past month? - P172
You will know that you have cleared enough of your schedule when you findthat you are able to live at a slower pace-a pace that allows you to savor eachmoment. - P173
If you are used to listening to sermons at 1.5x speed or skimmingScripture to fulfill a commitment, it may take some time and practice for youto learn how to slow down and enjoy God.
- P173
Try breathing in the aroma of a cup of coffee or watching the ever-changingbeauty of a river. Take some time to catch a few fireflies then release them. Orgo to the grocery store and eat something you have never tasted before. - P173
As youlive at a slower pace, you will find God in new and unexpected places, and yourexpressions of love and gratitude toward Him will flow. - P173
Slowing down can also train the soul to hear from God. It is only the unhurried
soul that can be still and know
the presence of God. - P173
When you feel lost in the disorder of your
desires, the best thing you can do is slow down, be still, and delight in God. - P173
That is when you will sense the Holy Spirit‘s activity in your soul asyou read God‘s Word. - P173
When we exercise faith and choose to clear our schedulebecause we long for the joy of the Lord, the Holy Spirit moves in us,
ordering our thoughts, purifying our
desires, restoring our love, and strengthening ourwill. - P173
That is when we will start to find meaning in every struggle, satisfaction inevery victory, and joy in our time with God. - P173
Friends, God cannot be mocked, and there are consequences for breaking God‘scommands. If we cram too much into our life and refuse to enter into His Sabbath,
we will not experience the transforming grace that God desires for us.
- P173
Therefore, as the author of Hebrews urges us, let us make every effort to enter
that rest (Heb. 4:11). - P173
41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in yourhousehold. I worked for you fourteen years for your twodaughters and six years for your flocks, and you changedmy wages ten times. - P49
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and theFear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surelyhave sent me away empty-handed. But God has seenmy hardship and the toil of my hands, and last nighthe rebuked you." - P49
Over the years, Laban changed his wages ten times. If Godhad not been with Jacob, Laban would have sent him away empty-handed.
But God saw Jacob‘s hardship and rebuked Laban. - P49
Jacob angrily confronts Laban for pursuing him and accusing him oftheft. - P50
He takes this opportunity to defend his innocence by detailingall the injustices he endured during the twenty years he worked for hisuncle. - P50
Unfair treatment and the denial of justice are evils that most ofus will experience at some point in our lives. - P50
But when the world offersno sympathy or solution, God knows and understands our sufferings.
- P50
He will not allow even a single tear to fall from our cheeks in vain.
Because of His promise to vindicate us, we can resist the temptation torepay evil with evil and wait for God to bring about perfect justice at the appointed time.
- P50
As Jacob looks back on the hardships he has endured, it would be easyfor him to become bitter at all the evil that was inflicted upon him.
- P50
But instead, he declares that the loving hand of God was providing forhim and guiding him all the way. - P50
This is the wonderful guarantee wehave as children of God who have been bought by the blood of Christ.
- P50
Along with our eternal inheritance stored up in heaven, God promisesthat all things we experience in our lives on earth work toward ourultimate good. - P50
As we struggle through the ups and downs of life, ourspirits are being renewed each day as we draw closer to our final rest inthe presence of God. - P50
While I may not agree with the exact way the Mennonites interpretand apply Jesus‘ teachings, I find their resolve to obey Jesus at all costsdeeply commendable. - P51
I pray that, like them, my commitment toChrist would only grow stronger through opposition and hardship. - P51
Lord God, even as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will notfear because You are with me. - P51
Use my life and all my struggles to bring gloryto You as I testify of Your goodness to me. In Jesus‘ name, amen. - P51
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