Skip to content

Time Out

  • Deborah 

It’s funny to me that something we use to discipline our children, is the exact thing many of us crave—a few minutes of sitting in a chair quietly. 

Sometimes we simply need a time out. 

Yesterday, my body informed me that it was a day for a time out (thus no blog post). Headache and sinus congestion knocked me off of any plans I had for the day. 

As I prepared for and recover from Soaring With God to Flourish, the Lord has kept me mindful of my need for moments of rest even in the midst of a busy schedule and a long to do list. 

He directed me to keep this week clear of ministry appointments so that I could focus on bringing rest and recovery to my mind, body, heart, and spirit. Boundaries play an important part of rest. 

When I was a mother of young children, my boys learned that when Mom said, “I’m going to take a bath” it meant do not even so much as knock on the bathroom door. 

When weeks ago people asked for coaching and freedom appointments, I said, “Let’s look at the first week of May.” 

It was not easy to keep that boundary in place, but I knew God always has the best plan. So I put the boundary in place and stuck to it.  Yesterday I was able to completely take a “time out” day, because I had followed the Lord’s direction for this week. 

God gave us the model for rest when He rested after creating us. 

“By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

I would suggest that God sanctified the day of rest, because He knew we needed the reminder and to recognize the importance of resting. 

It takes mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical energy to soar with God as who He created you to be doing what He created you to do. Ask Him to show you when you can take minutes, hours, or days of “time out.” He will restore you in order to cause you to soar again. 

Today, ask the Lord where you can find and implement moments of rest and time out from your work, whatever that may be. 

Put that boundary in place and follow His direction.

He will refresh you and restore you.

I promise.