Being a little fighter in a great big world is exhausting at times. You keep going and keep trying. You get up early, stay up late, and put in long hours until your eyesight is blurry and your mind isn’t as sharp as it should be for this task.

So you head for a cup of coffee or tea. Perhaps a little (or a LOT) of chocolate will help. It’s worked before, you reason.

But not this time. Something is different. You sip your coffee and reread a sentence two or three times. You sip your coffee and reread a sentence two or three times. (Just making sure you got it.)

My friend, you need a break.

Think about what you’ve been going through lately. A spiritual battle? Dealing with a stressful relationship? Maybe work is wearing you down or anxious thoughts about your bank account are keeping you up at night.

Maybe you’ve been heading up the mountain and you’re so excited to finally reach the summit that you keep pushing through the exhaustion when God is actually trying to speak to you and needs you to slow down and wait for Him.

Or maybe you’re coming down from the mountaintop, some victory in your life, and you hate to leave so you think if you just hurry along you’ll be at the top of the next mountain in no time at all.

Let me ask you this:  If you took a little puppy for an all-day hike, would you deny him a nap when you got home?

Of course not. You’d probably sit and stare at that adorable face and smile, knowing rest is what the little guy needed.

Maybe, just maybe, yours is the cute little face God wants to see resting, so He can quiet you with His love and rejoice over you with singing. (see Zephaniah 3:17). Perhaps His singing is a lullaby of sorts to calm you during this season of your life and help you to rest.  

But your to-do list is filling up the page, scratch that, it’s filling up the notebook and people are counting on you.

That’s right. People are counting on you. I’m counting on you.

I’m counting on you to bask in God’s presence and bring that glow into the world, so we can all see it and remember light is stronger than darkness.  I’m counting on you to not feel guilty about taking a break (maybe a nap) when you need it because even Jesus took a break. He napped too—right in the middle of a storm.

“Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion.” 

Mark 4:38a NIV.

The world is counting on you to rest. When you rest, you come back stronger, more alert, and more of the YOU you’re training to be.

And that’s what this world needs—you to be the you God created. We don’t need you to be another worn-out, run-down, burned-out soul trying to keep up with the world and its frenzied pace.

Run your own race, the one God has for you, and step away from the crowd—rest when He leads.

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they [the apostles] did not even have a chance to eat, he [Jesus] said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark 6:31 NIV.

Go to a quiet place with your King and get some rest. You’ll be glad you did.