To Everything There is a Season

It is said that our brains need about eight hours of sleep each night to receive maximum rejuvenation. It is also believed that a short 10-20 minute nap will revitalize the tired mind. However too much sleep at night, or napping longer than the allotted twenty minutes is likely to leave us unmotivated and lethargic. Of course, a little coffee will fix that problem (haha!), but only for a short time. Science also tells us that during times of rest and sleep all of our body’s muscles are allowed to grow, repair, and strengthen.

So, when I’m at the gym pumping iron, exerting myself on the elliptical, swimming laps in the pool, or running on the treadmill am I not strengthening my muscles? While persevering through two years of college courses and straining to help my daughter with Algebra, am I not benefitting my brain? This whole time all I really needed was sleep? Um, no! Don’t we all wish it were that simple! Unfortunately it’s not. Sadly, we must have a combination of both exercise and rest, and truth be told, the majority of us lack in one or both of these areas; we either don’t get enough sleep, don’t get enough exercise, or both.

La Cruz Sinaloa Mexico

Quite a few years ago, after multiple short term trips to Mexico, God called my family back for a five month “missionary” adventure. I was so excited, anticipating the opportunity to serve, minister, teach, encourage, do anything and everything for God’s kingdom! After all, that’s what we did during the short weeks we spent there previously. The reality of living in Mexico was far from my hopes and expectations. Yes, we were busy studying, teaching, reaching out to others, and sharing the Good News. However, the majority of my time was spent homeschooling my daughter, doing laundry (such a difficult task when you remove American conveniences), cleaning up after my sick son (Mexican parasites), and simply being a mom. I remember questioning “Why do You have me here, Lord? I surely could do all of THIS back home.” Little did I realize it was during this time that God was taking all the things He had taught me years prior and building them up. When I felt as if I were completely ineffective and useless, God was strengthening me in my faith, my beliefs, my relationship with Him; He was walking me higher up that Mountain!

Although we cannot feel, see, or sense our brains and muscles growing and developing at night, we know they are. We can also take comfort in the fact that He is at work in each of us whether we feel it or not, just as He was with me in Mexico. Nevertheless, we must not neglect the importance of both resting in Him and running hard for Him. Just as too much sleep and insignificant exercise leave us lethargic, running hard and neglecting those Red Light Moments will profoundly hinder our growth. What season of life are you in right now? Are you working those muscles, pushing as hard as you can push, letting Him stretch you beyond your capabilities? Or are you resting and allowing God to strengthen and rebuild?

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven… a time to break down, and a time to build up.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1,3