Often times we are put in situations where our faith, patience or trust in God are tested. If we are able to hear God in the midst of the situation, we often hear him signaling us to go a different route. Or to approach the situation with a different mindset. But what if you didn’t hear God at all. What if all of a sudden he removes you from your distractions so that you could hear him clearly?
This happened to me.
It started with me becoming super overwhelmed with work demands and timelines. For weeks I stressed over making deadlines and pleasing clients. Once I met one deadline, another approached and the cycle begun again. I prayed for a breakthrough. For God to allow me to see light at the end of the tunnel that I called my busy schedule. Thankfully, one day I got an answer to my prayer in an unexpected yet much-needed way.
During one of my busy work weeks, I took a half-day off to travel to Iowa for an orthodontics appointment. While traveling I could not help but check my work email for updates or questions waiting in my inbox. The problem with this situation is that I was traveling in the middle of January to a state that was known to have bad winter weather. And of course, as soon as it was time for me to head home, I got stuck in Iowa for three additional days due to bad weather conditions (10 inches of snow 🙄).
Although I should have known to look at the weather before I got on my flight to Iowa, I was so wound up in getting things done for work that I didn’t take the time to check. That being said, I ended up in Iowa for extra days due to flight cancellations.
I was super frustrated because I had plans back home for the weekend including catching up on work. I had a ton of things on my to-do list that I wanted to get accomplished before the new week approached. However, God had other plans. Plans that required me to rest.
What I learned from this experience
As I sat in my quiet hotel room for three days and listened, God told me that this was the break I had been asking for. I realized that being stuck in one place for three days was God’s way of getting my attention. He allowed me to see that I had been worn out and exhausted. I literally did not have any extra energy to give to the rest of the tasks on my to-do list. The snowstorm was an opportunity to give me rest and to spend time with him.
I allowed the distractions of the world and work demands to get me to the point where I felt stressed and burned out. I did not take a moment to realize that everything was:
(1) Keeping me from God’s purpose for my life (as it kept me so busy and feeling overwhelmed that I didn’t have the time or the energy to spend toward this blog or other things he was calling me to do) and
(2) It was wasting unnecessary energy as God had a place of peace and rest for me (if I chose to enter it and trust that he will help me through my troubles).
The moment I realized what God had done to allow me to rest, I was astounded. God literally had me pack all the things I needed for a mini self-care weekend without me even realizing that I had done so (I always overpack but this time it came in handy).
Making the best out of your situation
I spent the three days resting and taking care of myself including spending time with God, sleeping, working out in the hotel’s gym, doing my skincare routine, watching Netflix and purposely disconnecting from the world to focus on me. This was literally the best unplanned mini getaway that I ever had. The best part is that it didn’t cost me much as the hotel gave me a great rate due to the weather and low demand for rooms.
After the break, I felt renewed even while knowing I still had a lot to do. The week approached with me having a new perspective and level of focus on things. I was ready to go back into the world knowing that there was no need to feel overwhelmed. I had the peace of God to make it through my day and the knowing that he was there for me when I need it most. There was no need to feel anxious about tomorrow’s to-do list or the stresses of next week.
God knew I needed rest to feel like myself again.
” Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22 NIV
How this can help you when you are stressed
Learn from me that when you’re not well-rested, your thinking can be off. You can lose perspective and focus on the things that God has instructed you to do (including fulfilling your purpose). Trust that God will always be with you and know that he will give you grace and wisdom to see you through any troubles.
I recently read Running On Empty by Heather Lindsey which touched exactly on this topic! In this book, she describes her battles with burn out and gives great wisdom on how to rest in God’s presence. If you are feeling stressed, anxious and overwhelmed, I highly recommend this book.
Nonetheless, we have to be honest with ourselves and really evaluate the situations in our life that are causing stress. In my instance, it wasn’t the situation that was causing me stress but instead it was how I was responding to the situation. Instead of taking the circumstance day by day, I chose to allow it to make me feel overwhelmed and anxious for tomorrow. Instead of trusting that God will help me through my troubles, I chose to tackle it by myself.
Don’t allow the worries in your life to take away your peace and disrupt your rest. Know that you can find peace in God and that this peace will give you a feeling of rest. Trust that God will remove all of your feelings of stress as he will ensure that you get exactly what you need to feel like yourself again.
One thing that I’m really working on after having that self-care weekend is how to surrender my schedule to the Lord. I am learning to not rely on my own power and strength but instead allow him to lead me day by day. I am also learning to take the time to set boundaries for my self-care time and for my rest. Especially when I have experienced first hand what I have to offer rested versus not rested!
