To all the REACH family we pray you have a Christmas that gives you the space to have fun, to rest and to do those things that will replenish your body and soul.
Earlier in the year I came across an article which really helped me to understand how I was feeling at the time. It talked about two states of being: fatigue and depletion. Fatigue is when a muscle or mind requires rest to recuperate. Depletion is when our inner resources of energy have been drained (it’s that ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ feeling!).
This ongoing pandemic has for many of us drained our emotional and spiritual energy, so it is more important than ever to give ourselves time to replenish.
To the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:13) Jesus said “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
When we are exhausted it is very easy to ‘drink’ from other sources to keep us going, this could be having a Netflix binge or keeping busy always being there for others.
But Jesus invites us to STOP and come to Him to find REST for our souls. It is when we prioritise this that we find our energy being renewed.
“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” Matthew11:30
Julie Stokes
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