A Vacation for Your Soul

You have got to slow down. Period.
You just have to.
But how can we?
We bow to our calendar.
Social media is our respirator.
Sleep with our phones.
We are all sleep-deprived,
vacation-deprived,
soul-deprived.
Something has to change. It just has to.
Finding Space
The closer I get each year to my annual vacation, the more my responsibilities always seem to grow. But I'm not the only one who sees it. Other people do, too. Every time (and I mean every time) I mention it to someone close to me they ask me questions like:
How many days are you going to work your vacation?
Are you taking your laptop with you?
Are you going to finally do something fun?
It has become a ritual.
The question is asked so much, this year I started to get offended.
Not by them. By me.
Rest is not a part of my reputation when it comes to vacations.
How is that possible? I am so obvious?
And if even others recognize how my body and mind are being deprived, what does that mean for my soul? This year has to be different. I have to find space to rest. And so do you.
A Vacation for Your Soul
Spiritual. Social. Mental. We hear a lot about retreats in the summer. But have you looked at the prices? You have to make ready to get access to that level of respite. In other words, you have to work to get the rest.
The same applies with your spirit.
As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. ~Psalms 42:1, The Living Bible
If I want to truly embrace what retreat provides, I have to put in the work now and start creating space.
Vacation does not start when I get on the plane, but when I fall to my knees.
It begins with my soul.
For weeks, I've been searching for simplicity in my prayers so I went back to the "OG"; The Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23. Both scriptures I know by heart from childhood, but reading the words from my BIG LETTER BIBLE made them come alive again. It is then I realized that Psalms 23 is more of a praise report than a prayer.
It is an affirmation of how God cares for each of us personally...
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ~Psalm 23:1, New International Version
how he positions us for retreat even when we are too hardheaded to do it for ourselves...
He makes me lie down in green pastures,... ~Psalm 23:2 NIV
how he creates the space for the peace we seek...
he leads me beside quiet waters,... ~Psalm 23:2 NIV
and intimately takes care of every one of us from the inside out.
he refreshes my soul. ~Psalm 23:3 NIV
Do you seek rest or an escape? No retreat, vacation, or staycation can give you the absolute rest of accepting God's eternal safety and shepherding of your soul.
Your Daily Retreat
It's the proximity in Psalm 23 that gets me!
Reading Psalm 23 every morning starts my day gives me an absolute certainty that there is one thing I can rest in now and for eternity... I am not alone.
It is so satisfying to wake excited about the psalm's reminder of how close God is to me. How he prioritizes my peace,
walks every path,
guides every step
when I submit to his shepherding power.
You do not have to leave home to find rest. God inhabits the praises of his people.
You want a great vacation? Me, too. But first and foremost, we need a Good Shepherd. Start your day with the ritual of retreat in Psalm 23 every morning.
The shift in perspective will give you the space
to get the rest,
get the answers,
get the Good Shepherd you need.
Because he always shows up.

コメント