The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23:1-4 NIV
I sit on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the dresser—no, through the dresser. My eyes are glazed over; I’m not really looking at anything. My shoulders sag, and my whole body feels as though I’m a wilting plant in need of sun and water.
I’m exhausted.
I’ve been saying yes to all the things that I can’t say no to — family obligations, mommy duties, household upkeep, and work deadlines. And then there are the yeses I say for my own well-being — therapy, life-giving friendships, time alone, church, mentoring. Throw in a celebration for someone’s birthday, a coffee date with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, or a visiting family member, and the calendar seems to explode at the seams, with no wiggle room even to breathe.
And running in the back of my mind is the low-humming anxiety that I’ll drop the ball somewhere and won’t realize it until it’s too late. I can almost sense failure lurking around the corner, waiting for that ball to drop.
I close my eyes and take some deep breaths. The slow, deliberate breathing wills my body and mind to settle down. I want to curl up like a baby and be carried away to somewhere quiet so I can rest, and closing my eyes, I imagine God doing this for me. I don’t have to hold or control everything so tightly when I’m held in His arms. I can relax. I can truly rest.
I lie on my bed, where I hold my palms open to my sides and close my eyes again. By habit, these verses come to mind — the words embedded into the deepest parts of me since my childhood days of memorizing Bible verses for Sunday school: “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:2–3).
Imagining the water, the green, it feels like the space I’m in expands. I don’t have to be controlled by my to-do list. I don’t have to do all the things or meet with all the people, even if all those things would have been good or beneficial for me.
I still need to do the things I need to do, but I look at the calendar with fresh eyes. I cancel meetings where I can. I choose only the absolutely necessary things to get done for the week. I talk with my husband about all the responsibilities I carry, and we hash out how we can better share the mental and physical loads.
In small but decisive ways, I simplify my life. And more than that, I find rest for my soul in the sliver of the day where I pause to breathe, to imagine, and to say yes to God’s invitation to come and receive His rest.
Devotion by Grace P. Cho as published in Courageous Simplicity: Abide in the Simple Abundance of Jesus
By trusting the Good Shepherd, we can experience the radical simplicity of peace, contentment, and courage. As the apostle Peter encourages us, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).
This is the kind of encouragement you’ll find in our (in)courage Bible Study, Courageous Simplicity. It’s on sale for only $10 for the month of September only on DaySpring.com. Check out all the monthly markdowns and grab more (in)courage Bible Studies at this amazing price!
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As a psychologist, who is a Christ follower, I give this advice to my clients all the time. One of the things that I add, is tell God that”feel me with your love. I receive your love through your Holy Spirit.”So many times we don’t feel or allow ourselves to receive the love that’s there for us in Christ.
I love that simple prayer. I breathed in deep just reading that. Thank you.
Beautiful thank you.
It is Sunday and I am getting ready for church. This devotion was beautiful and it fits right into what occurred in my life yesterday. All of the things mentioned in your devotion I had been thinking of, but I am 76 years old and my child is 54 and my grandson is 13. I do have trouble at time as I am alone. My ex-husband is in a facility for violent dementia and I had to sell the house and I moved into a different facility. I have 4 different major issues that hang over me and I do pray a lot, but I guess God’s timeline is not the same as mine which we all have to remember. So, on Friday I was so weary, overwhelmed and upset, I read my (in) Bible and found a scripture that Jesus said it was OK to rest and so to show you where I relate to your devotional is I did just what Jesus said yesterday and it not only felt good and I could pray or work with my Bible, but I only had 3 small things that I had to do and that is all I did. This morning when I got up, I was feeling much better than I normally do in the early morning and I went right to my computer to read today’s devotion. Thank you for choosing this one to give to us on a Sunday. As I finish my reply the church bells from a church across the street are chiming, right on time. I love all of you (in) women who help those of us that really need it and others that may join our Christian Community. Love to you all and please have a Blessed Sunday……………………Betsy Basile
I love how perfectly timed all these things were for you, Betsy. God sees you and knows you and loves you so deeply.
I love today’s devotional. It has spoken to me in so many way. I am the type of person who goes on and doesn’t take enough rest for myself. I say they need my help. So they do like my elderly Dad. I do his Home tidying up Monday to Friday. Don’t get me wrong I love doing it. I do on to the Love of the Lord and the Love of my elderly Dad. As it needs done this many times each week for him. People have said to me including my Husband you have to take more rest out for you. I suffer seizures. Slow down take more time of from your Dad’s think of yourself. Like People working they get so many Holidays of from their work to rest chill out and charge their batteries as the saying goes. I have been in the past saying I can’t my Dad’s needs me to do his House. I have to do it for him as if didn’t I not be a very caring Christian. People could say your not being very Christian you taking off when your Dad needs you to do his House. They could also say a Christian is being caring and not think of yourself. Thinking of other People like your Dad and helping him by doing his House. Not thinking of what you need. I have thought like that. As it says in the Bible the story about the Samaritan.That story means helping those that need your help. Not forgetting about them like some did in the story in the Bible. Like me with my elderly Dad not forgetting about him and helping him. Then when I did take a week of not that long ago. Me and my Husband went away for a few days. During that time I took a couple of seizures. God told me it was exhaustion that got the better of me. So it was I was so tired and had no energy that I took the seizures on Holiday. It was my own fault for not taking enough rest. Not thinking the way I had that I can’t take of from my Dad’s he needs me. No wonder my body made me have the seizures as I had not taken the time of now and then to charge my batteries. Before I took the week of not that long ago. I just with exhaustion collapsed. God said to me you can still do your Dad’s. But you need to take more rest for yourself you need to every so often charged your batteries. Like my son Jesus did. He didn’t mind helping People. But to be good at helping them he had to rest. My son Jesus did that from time to time. If didn’t he be no good in helping them after so long. You must do the same or you will be no good to yourself or your Dad. God gave me Matthew 11:28-30. It is about rest. I have to listen to that. Love today’s reading. Love Dawn Ferguson-Little Enniskillen Co.Fermanagh N.Ireland xx
Yes, rest, Dawn. Matthew 11:28-30 in the Message version is my favorite: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? 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. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I think there is a simple saying: You can do some things, but you can’t do everything!
That’s giving you permission to selectively leave on or take things off your to do list where you can, so you have room to breathe and enjoy more of the simple pleasures of life! We all need to slow down.
Thank you so much for the reminder to simplify life and say no to things!
Grace,
This is so wise that I’ve shared it to encourage other women to spend time in creation with their CREATOR!️
SENDING YOU JOY,
Lisa Wilt
Thank you, Lisa!
Thank you for this reminder. I think we can get caught up in the hustle and bustle sometimes. It’s good to remind ourselves to lean into simplicity.
Very encouraging. As i read and lean on your encouraging podcast.