S2. E34. Rest is success (feat. Psalm 127)
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[00:00:00] if you are not allowing yourself to rest, if you can't have a rest day, then you're doing too much.
You're exercising too much. If you can't be off the plan and take a break from the plan to go out to dinner or go on vacation. You're being too rigid with the plan. If you can't not track your macros for one day, tracking macros is probably an idol and you're st stewarding your body in vain because he grs sleep. Rest to those he loves. .
Hello. [00:01:00] Hello, y'all. Welcome back to your Daily Bread podcast. I am so excited for this episode. Today we're gonna be unpacking Psalm 1 27. Father, God, thank you so much for this day. Lord, we just praise you and thank you for everything that you are.
Thank you for the way that you love us. , I pray that as we go into this episode, that you give us ears to hear and a softened heart to receive everything that you want us to receive. Lord, I pray that this word renews our mind so that we can better discern what your will is. Your good pleasing and perfect will Lord help us to not conform to the patterns of this world that's hustling and bustling and striving and achieving.
And. Focused on the accolades and the achievements and the recognition that we get. Lord, help us to renew our mind and see success as you see success and to receive the good gifts that you give us, and the [00:02:00] gift of rest. Lord, I pray that everything that's said in this episode is what you want to say through me, and thank you for choosing me as your vessel.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So Psalm 1 27 verses one and two. Say, unless the Lord builds the house, the builder's labor in vain, unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand. Watch in vain. In vain. You rise early and stay up late toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loved. Oh, God's word is so good and this is really convicting, are you laboring in vain? Are there areas in your life, in your health journey that you are building on your own and not inviting God to partner with you in that? [00:03:00] Because unless the Lord builds the house, the builder's labor in vain, , at the new church that I'm going to, the pastor a couple weeks ago was giving an analogy with moving and building furniture and when someone else at the church that was helping him move was building.
An end table, it looked like everything was going well with the end table, but then when they tried to put the drawer in the drawer, it wouldn't fit. And then they pull the directions outta the box and it turns out the guy wasn't reading the directions to build the box. And he's like, how often are we doing this in our walk with God?
Where the manufacturer has spelled out the directions and the instructions already? But we're assuming what it's gonna be or leaning on our own understanding. We need to follow the instructions that are already spelled out by the manufacturer. He's working to make our path straight and he's working to order our steps and he knows [00:04:00] the steps. Jeremiah 29 11, for I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. So he knows the plans that he has for us. We need to trust in that.
So if you are not following God's plan. Then you're laboring in vain. You're building a life in vain. You have a healthy lifestyle in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. I've had to really reflect on that it's the second part of the first verse.
I've had to reflect on that too. I feel like I do things a lot, and I see this with my clients too, where I'm trying to protect myself. I'm doing that so that I have control. I'm protecting myself from getting hurt or protecting myself from fear or., Insecurity or rejection where my safety comes from the Lord.
So I don't need to, always be on guard and on watch, but I can rest that the Lord is protecting [00:05:00] me. I see this a lot with, , my clients that struggle with a, I. Avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder. They feel like they have to be so diligent about the food that they're eating. 'cause they have a fear like, is this gonna hurt me?
Is this gonna make me sick? Maybe they had a previous experience with food that made them sick. And just know that the Lord is watching over you, that he is protecting you. And yes, we want to be intentional and diligent, do what we can, but ultimately, our safety does not come from anything that we're doing.
Our safety comes from the Lord. So are we being our own guards or are we praying Psalm 91, allowing God's angels to charge over us so that we're lifted up and we won't even dash our foot against a stone? God commands his angels to do that and protect us. And the Lord is protecting us, and he holds us securely with his right hand.
He is our refuge. He is our forts. I also love verse two., In vain, you rise early and stay up late. Toiling for food to eat for. He grants. Sleep to those he loves. [00:06:00] So with your healthy lifestyle, if you are not allowing yourself to rest, if you can't have a rest day, then you're doing too much.
You're exercising too much. If you can't be off the plan and take a break from the plan to go out to dinner or go on vacation. Then you're being too rigid with the plan. Now there's obviously certain seasons where you need to be following a certain meal plan for something, and you know that's for a short season.
I'm not talking about those specific cases, but by and large, if you can't not track your macros for one day, tracking macros is probably an idol and you're st stewarding your body in vain because he grs sleep. Rest to those he loves. Rest is not weakness, rest is not laziness. Rest is a gift from the Lord.
And honestly, it's biblical. We need to be practicing Sabbath. Our day of rest Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments. It's the fourth commandment. So we need to keep to the Sabbath and and keep that day holy. And John Mark [00:07:00] Comer talks about this in his book, the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. But Sabbath has.
A multiplying effect throughout the weeks like you're not working so hard so that you can rest. No, we rest and we operate from that place of rest, from a full cup that now runs over into the rest of our week. So you are built with a limited capacity as a human.
You need rest. That's not you being weak. That's embracing God's design of the human body and knowing that you can't do this on your own. , Resting in the Lord is a reminder that you are actively dependent on him. It's not you being passive. It's active dependence on the Lord and reminding yourself it's honestly practicing.
Sabbath is humbling. Lord, you can do so much more with six days outta my week than I could do in my own toil. And seven. So he grants sleep, he grants rests to those he loves because he loves you. So to rest. Is to be [00:08:00] successful. Rest is success because when you're resting in the Lord and you operate from that, you're gonna be operating with greater efficiency and greater productivity and greater clarity, greater alignment.
And that will help you to be dependent on the Lord and humble and to not be striving in your own strength and hustling. So to rest and to really practice Sabbath and to rest from, working out and, doing different things for a healthy lifestyle, like being flexible with that. It that is how we find success because we're not doing things in our own strength, but it allows us to access God's power and. To be doing things with him and he can just do so much more , than we can do. And this also ensures that you're on the right path as well. Because you could be building a life for yourself.
You could be building a healthy lifestyle, trying to suit your body. You could be going the completely opposite direction because you didn't consult the manufacturer and the builder, the [00:09:00] contractor that like has the blueprints and the plans. So I hope that this is something that you meditate on.
Like, oh, okay, Lord, reveal to me, are there areas, , in my life with my healthy lifestyle that I need to rest and trust you in? Areas of my life where I'm pushing myself too hard. Am I striving in my own strength?
Am I leaning into the worldly expectations that I have to go, go, go hustle, hustle, hustle, strive, strive, strive, achieve, achieve, achieve when? That's not how you see success. But actually allowing myself to rest in you and operating from that place of rest is success to you, and it's gonna allow me to be successful in the ways that you want me to be successful and run the race that you have for me.
So that's what I would encourage y'all to meditate on today. I think that this can be helpful, like are you exercising too much and you actually need to rest in the Lord? This could be related to tangible healthy habits, but it also could be related to just your overall lifestyle.
Are you hurrying, striving, achieving too much and you need to rest in the Lord? Because he grants sleep, he [00:10:00] grants rest to those he loves, and God loves you.
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