guest post written by @pruddychick
I've lived in Arizona since I was three and by default/common law or something I'm pretty much a native. Patricia lives in LA. I'm not a basketball (or any sports) fan, but by proxy of living in Phoenix, I root for the Suns, and naturally Patricia roots for the Lakers. So Patricia & I had a friendly little bet going over the Sun vs. Lakers Play-Offs. We made a bet that the winner of the series gets to guest blog on the other's site. Now you're probably asking how are you guest blogging on her site when the Suns lost? Answer :).
So here we go:
I've realized I'm tense. Not dense. Tense.
I grind my teeth at night. I sleep with my shoulders scrunched up. I wake up often with head and neckaches from said teeth grinding, shoulder scrunching and teeth clenching. I brush my teeth with a little too much pressure (I buy a new toothbrush about every month cause I mangle mine up so bad).
I'm having to learn to relax. To chill. To forcibly make myself not be tense. I lay in bed at night and just let go.
If I'm honest with myself my tension probably has a lot to do with wanting to control my surroundings. Wanting to carry the load of my life. Jesus tells us to rest. To be still. Have peace. Turning over that load to him means I don't have to carry it. Which means I don't have to lay in bed and fall asleep a giant wad of tension.
I need to rest in Him.
-@prudychick [visit her blog at: http://www.prudychick.com]
this is such a timely word from prudence. i, as of late, have found myself fighting to rest in His embrace. my blog and twitter for the most part have been kind of empty from words and noise because i've been trying my best to remain quiet in Him. wanting to take in all that He's doing, prioritizing the important things, and trying hard to drown certain noises that can come from life itself, as well as other people's thoughts and voices.... desperately asking Him to empty me of myself, my mind, my thoughts so that my cup will overflow of Him...and only Him.
it's such a struggle... coz everything around me says DO SOMETHING. MOVE. GO HERE. DO THAT. RUN HERE. SERVE THERE. isn't it sad the the older we get, the harder it is for us to teach ourselves to relax. we need to learn (and force ourselves) to be more like mary and sit and worship at His feet and less like martha who's always concerned about how things need to get done. like prudy said, we need to teach ourselves to rest in Him. He's calling your name with arms wide open, i hope and pray that you find yourself resting in His embrace this weekend!
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." [luke 10:38-43]
Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. [1peter 5:6-7]
