Rest and Release Weekly Wrap Up

Just a few short years ago, no matter where you went you couldn’t escape the words “Let It Go”  The chart topping song that went along with the box office hit movie Frozen was everywhere. From hearing it on the radio to humorous memes on the internet people from all over were being encouraged to just “let it go.”

We have since moved away from the intense popularity of the movie and the song (although it still ranks pretty high in our house) but the idea that sometimes we just need to let it go hasn’t changed.

And that is what this first week of the Rest and Release Bible Study has been all about. The theme for this week was STOP. Stop and truly evaluate all the things that are going on in your daily life. Take the time to determine what needs to stay and what needs to go.

This weeks Scripture passages were:
Luke 10:38-42
Ephesians 6:10-20
Leviticus 25:1-7
Ecclesiastes 10:10
Matthew 14:13-23

Each one of these scripture passages has a central them of slowing down and really resting in the Lord. The more I read through, highlighted passages, and thought about application for these Scriptures in my life, the clearer the picture began to be on what areas of my life I need to step back from and how I need to release things into God’s hand.

However, the idea of letting some of these things go, things that are good but not great for me to be doing, is a bit terrifying. And then I attended a break out session at the Building a Culture of Biblical Femininity in the Home, Church and Community Conference on Friday and I heard a remarkable thing.

The speaker, Rachel Jankovic, said that when we find that we are struggling with the busyness of our lives that it may not be the activities that we are doing that’s the problem. The real problem may be our attitude toward the things we are doing. We are told in Colossians 3:23 that what ever we do, we are to do it as unto the Lord. This means if I am sitting in a board meeting as a high-powered CEO I am to do it as unto the Lord. This also meas that if I am crawling on the floor picking up the spilled Cheerios again for the 3rd time that day I am to do it as unto the Lord.

As I listened to what she said, I really started to think back on the passages of the study for the week and everything comes back to resting in the Lord. And I realized, that even if I am busy running from one activity to the other or if I am at home with my 3 young children with school text books all around us, if I am doing “as unto the Lord” then that is where my rest is. I can rest easy knowing that God has it all under control. When chaos erupts and it feels like I am going to crater at any moment, God will still have it under control.

So now, over the course of the next few weeks, as I finish going through this study, as well as taking time to seek wise counsel and talk through things with my husband and others I trust in my life, I believe I will be coming at “what needs to stay and what needs to go” from a different perspective. I believe it will be my attitude toward the various activities I am involved in that will need to be evaluated more than the activity itself.

Does that mean I will continue to do everything I am doing, just with a better attitude and spirit? I don’t know. It could very well mean that there are areas of my life I need to step away from. But it could also mean that I just need to shift my perspective and make a clear determination of what type of rewards I am seeking.

What areas of your life need to be evaluated? Do you need an attitude check in some area? How can you take steps to make that happen?