Please don't refresh this page.
We are submitting all your information.


This takes few seconds.
It will redirect after submission.
Devotional

The Woman Who Stopped

by SARAH DEAL SELF-CARE Balancing ministry, family, & life Rest
The Woman Who Stopped
“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.”
Psalms 127:2

Once upon a time, there was a global woman. She lived in a faraway land, serving community and family with skill and a smile. Her language ability growing with each passing day, she began to feel more at home in this land once full of strangeness. 


As the sun rose, you could find her cooking breakfast, and greeting her house helpers as they arrived for the day. Don’t be fooled—though others swept her floor, cooked her lunch, and washed her laundry, she was sure to put in a full day’s work with language study, visiting neighbors, attending meetings, keeping supporters up to date, shuttling kids to school, and encouraging those around her. With the setting of the sun, you could find her playing outside with the neighborhood children and her own, or perhaps chatting with the women of the community. A sense of purpose kept her going, and she was thankful to be a part of Something bigger than herself.


But as the weeks and months marched by, she came to realize that this life, this culture, was not entirely like her own. Things drained her here in ways that didn’t in the land of her birth. Seemingly random traffic patterns. Unspoken cultural expectations. Poverty and sickness. Always standing out in a crowd. Being expected to drop everything to attend a funeral within hours of a death. No chocolate chips, or marshmallows, or Mountain Dew (it’s getting real…!).


And one must always do their part in serving or else be deemed lazy, or even worse, expendable (or so she’d heard). 


Then, one day, in the middle of the rush of doing what seemed like a hundred things, this woman felt a need, an invitation, to stop. 


And so, as if accepting an invitation from the Savior himself, she took the afternoon off. Yes–off! She snuck away to sip iced coffee and read Scripture. She relished in God’s love for HER. She breathed in deep the truth that rest is a gift meant to be relished. For without this time to rest, all her service would be in vain.


Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your invitation to rest! We praise you for being our God, at the ready to hide us in Your shadow (Psalm 91:1)! Whether life is mundane or overwhelming, whether we feel settled or unstable, help us remember that we can always take refuge in YOU! (Psalm 71:3a) Help us to remember that basking in your love for us personally is vitally important to our ministry of pouring that love into others! In your glorious name we pray, Amen.
Resources
Album: Without Words: Genesis by Bethel Music When I stop to soak in some good time with the Lord over scripture and cup of coffee, I like to have my trusty headphones in with some instrumental worship music playing. This album has been my go-to for several years now, as I know several of the songs and can sing in my head back to the Lord in worship.
Book: When Less Becomes More by Emily Ley Although not all may apply to the unique situations you face as a global woman, I trust that some nuggets of wisdom will be helpful for all that you juggle daily!
Question for Reflection

Have you sensed the invitation to stop recently? What could you do this week to accept the invitation to stop and bask in God’s love for YOU?

Comments
Sarah Deal
March 02, 2023

The invitation to stop often comes hidden in a veil of noise. I’m ashamed to say I miss it all too often. But in the past few weeks, I’ve sensed an overwhelming longing to just stop, to actively push aside distractions that are within my control and train my mind to focus on my Lord. Granted, there are many factors in my life I can’t control, and certain responsibilities that I can’t just put on pause at a moment’s notice. But God has encouraged me that there are actually several things I was overlooking that have sucked life right out of me, taken up extra space and clutter, and kept me from stopping to take time to soak in His love and grace. These things for me have included social media, cluttered areas of my home, and taking on extra responsibilities that God had not asked me to take on. Stopping for me has looked like taking a month-long social media fast, getting my family involved in a serious de-cluttering and deep cleaning of our home (it’s been fun!) and taking stock of all the commitments I’ve been making and asking my husband to help me say “no” to future (and current!) responsibilities that we have prayed about and don’t feel the Lord would have me be a part of. As I’ve been responsive to Him in taking back control and clearing out some of this clutter (literally and figuratively!) in my life, I’ve had more time to sit with Him, read His Word, and have the mental and emotional energy to believe what He says is true of me! This is self-care at its finest <3 !!