Resting is Work

John 11:5–7 (NIV84)

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Good morning Zebras,

I love my moodles.  This morning they taught me another lesson from God.

Resting has never been easy for me.  I am a “get-‘er-done” kind of a person, so it’s not surprising God would use waiting as a training tool.  Every day I wonder if I’m doing the right thing.  Should I really just be sitting around doing nothing?

The answer is yes, and here’s the reason why.

At the Zebra retreat in September, the unofficial anthem became Chris Tomlin’s song “I Will Follow.”  Which starts out like this, “Where you go, I'll go, Where you stay, I'll stay, When you move, I'll move. I will follow...”

Notice it says where You go, I’ll go, Where You stay I stay.  Following Christ does not mean an endless stream of busy activities.  Sometimes it means sitting and waiting until God tells you to move.  Just like Jesus waited two days to go to Lazarus.

And that is what the moodles taught me today.

Moodles, (my mutt-poodles) are good resters.  They are content to follow me around all day, stopping when I stop and going when I go. They never get anxious, they never look worried.  They are happy just to be in my presence and follow me around. 

And I think that is what we are supposed to look like.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why I’m not doing as much as I used to do. I mean there isn’t any “real” reason. It isn’t that I don’t have enough time or that I dislike doing ministry, in fact the opposite is true, I love doing ministry.  So maybe what I am learning is that I need to love God even more.

I love you little Zebras.  Remember the resting is as important as the doing.  And there is nothing wrong with being a “Moodle for God.”

 

Love,

Jill