It's No Wonder Why We're Exhausted!

We as women have many titles: aunt, daughter, grandmother, niece, sister, employer, employee, caretaker, friend, leader, and mom. Under the title of mom is another list of titles – cook, laundress, referee, coach, teacher, cheerleader, account manager, personal shopper, chauffeur, nurse, and the list goes on and on.


As women, we have to deal with issues in our lives. Issues that we go to bed with at night and pick up in the morning. Issues that grow heavier and heavier as the day progresses. We deal with issues like cancer, infertility, abortion, infidelity, bankruptcy, foreclosure, pornography, abuse, neglect, addiction, over-eating, anorexia, bulimia, over spending, unemployment, neglect, health issues. Some of these issues we hide because of shame and embarrassment, and as long as we keep them hidden, Satan will continue to use them against us.

As women we have labels, issues and we have external sources that prevent us from finding a moment of rest. There’s the news, newspaper, radio, television, IPod, IPod, ITunes, DSI, Xbox, MP3. There are plenty of things that divert our attention.

Then if all these things aren’t enough, let’s through them into our daily routines: alarm goes off, wake up spouse and kids, fix breakfast, fix lunch, get ready for the day, throw supper in the crock pot, go to work, meetings at work, extracurricular activities for the kids, business functions, church meetings, school programs, gifts to buy and wrap, food to cook for the holidays, hair to color, nails to paint, and the list goes on and on.

Even when we sit down, we’re multi-tasking – folding clothes, listening for the buzzer in the kitchen, calling out spelling words to Erin, helping Pearce with his math facts.

Some days there just isn’t enough Calgon in the world to undo all the kinks and knots I have going on in my neck, back and shoulders.

A moment of rest?…Yes, I’d like to have a Moment of Rest with a side of Peace and Quiet, please.

ANYBODY OUT THERE GETTING THIS?

Psalm 34:8, Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. When I think of refuge, I think of three words: Open, Welcome, Safe.

Open. In order to have refuge from a storm, you have to be able to get into a building. The building isn’t a refuge unless you can enter it. You aren’t adequately covered. In order for someone or something to be a refuge, they have to be open. Do you remember the commercial with Tom Bodet saying, “We’ll keep the lights on?” He was saying we are always open, and we are waiting on you. God is like that. Psalm 121:4 says, indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. You have insomnia? Great. What a perfect time to talk to God. He’s always open.

Welcome. Just because a place is open doesn’t mean that you are welcomed there. Every good southern woman knows that when you entertain or host, you have to have good food and plenty of it. They also know that you greet your guest at the door, show them in, introduce them to some other guest, and the direct them to the food. Southern hospitality – there’s nothing like it. God invites us in to taste and see. He invites us in. He welcomes us with open arms.

Safety. Psalm 121 talks about how God protects. Psalm 139 says he hems us in from the front and the back and has laid out our days before us. God didn’t make the sacrifice of his only Son’s perfect life just to destroy you now…not that we don’t deserve it. But Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to give you a hope and a future, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”

It is in God, our safe refuge, that we can find peace and can find rest. You want to know the reason why we don’t have those things? We aren’t seeking God first. It’s our stubbornness, our pride, our shame that gets in the way of us finding peace. Satan will feed you every lie in the book to keep you from God. It’s time you kicked Satan to the curb in Jesus’ name, and then run to Jesus.

He can be your open, welcoming, safe refuge. You can have peace. You can have rest. The question is, Are you willing to lay down the labels, the titles, the issues, the eternal sources of distraction, and the agendas to pursue God first?