Come Away and Rest

Last Sunday morning I read my bible for 5 minutes.  I know - huge right?!

No really, it actually was huge.  It was important because over the last 10 days I had been so busy that I hadn't picked it up.  It was the end of the school year and everyday seemed to have a demand on me.  I had spent time planning and reviewing the days to come, to make sure I was ahead of the game, but still it all came too quickly and by the end I was coming undone.   I honestly felt like I was completing an ocean swim and the last 300 metres was just a mess of flailing arms and bad breathing!!

And on Sunday morning I realised why, when I went to pick up my bible I couldn't find it!  It had been so long since I had opened its pages (about 10 days) I had lost track of where I had last put it down.  Luckily I have more than one so I didn't let that stop me.

I picked up my reserve and sat in bed, opening its pages to the book of Mark and within 5 minutes I landed on a verse that caught my attention. One that made me wonder how this ancient book can still be so relevant now and make me feel like it was written for me!

It was Jesus speaking to the disciples after they had had a busy time of people coming and going, so busy they had not had time to eat!

"Lets go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while."                                                                            Mark 6:31 NLT

I love The Passion Translation: 

"Come, lets take a break and find a secluded place where you can rest a while."                                                                                                                Mark 6:31 TPT

And there it was.  A brilliant rainbow inside the covers of an ancient manuscript that I believe to be better than any self-help book on the market!  

Day after day, time after time when I open these pages they speak directly to my circumstances, guiding and encouraging me.  How I went for that long without checking in, I'm not sure.  Except to say life gets busy and has the tendency to ensure you drift from what keeps you anchored.  It isn’t very productive!

So friends if you are flailing, wishing you could just take a moment to breathe but can't find one, can I encourage you to take yourself away with Jesus and rest.  Honestly if all you have is 5 minutes, that is all He'll need!!

You know when they got to their 'quiet place' a huge crowd had already gathered, yet the time they spent together obviously refreshed them enough to teach some more and then feed the 5000 families gathered.  Jesus will use whatever space you have to give.  

Find a moment and breathe.

Much love, Nicci x

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PS I wrote this blog on the 13th December 2017 and wanted to share it here because I needed it's message and perhaps you did too. x

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