Hi there! Glad you are here and thankful to sit with you again. I hope your week has gotten off to a good start and you enjoyed your weekend. Whether you have a hot cup of tea, cold glass of water or a fruit smoothie, I am thrilled that you are hanging out with us for the next little bit. You may be reading this on your computer at work, or home or on your phone in your car but we are heading into a profound issue that I believe plagues all women on every continent. By the way, I love the emails and texts you are sending me to tell me what you think about the discussions so far!

While you settle in and take some deep breaths let me tell you a story. There once was a woman who moved to Asia with her husband and children to live and and share Jesus along side of many other amazing people. She had spent her previous years with a full calendar: raising kids, taking a turn at homeschool, running children to practice and making sure everyone had what they needed, teaching women’s Bible study, hosting dinners, writing here and there and assumed that once she settled in a foreign country, she would return to this same hurried pace. Weeks after settling in (as well as you can settle in a country that speaks a different language and does almost everything different from your home country), she frequently was approached by other women who told her that “when you are not so busy, we would love to have lunch with you”. Now, the woman pondered these statements and compared them with her reality. For the first time in seventeen years all of her children were in school, she had a helper four days out of the week (which she had never had before), and her days were anything but “busy”! One day she had lunch with a new friend and asked the question, “why does everyone think I am so busy?” This new friend looked the woman in the eye, waved her hand and with deep love, covered by a thick Portuguese accent, said…. “You’re busy on the inside!” Wow! That answer was unexpected and sunk deep down in the mind and soul of the woman.

Last week I asked you a favor. I asked you to take 15 minutes and consider the deep friendships you have in your life and if there were some shallow areas in your relationship with Jesus. I pray that you pondered those questions and that the Lord spoke truth and grace to you during that time. We also talked about the craving we have for deeply authentic friendships in our life and that desire was hardwired into our DNA. This week, I want to start a discussion on why we have so many shallow relationships and maybe some possible action steps that will result in deeper, more meaningful, and even more fruitful friendships.

“Busy on the inside”? What does that mean? Isn’t everyone busy? If we are not busy, we are bored, right? Or God forbid we be thought of as …..lazy! We are running, always running. That’s just what we do. So the question that I posed last week comes back up on the table and I ask it again, “to what end are we running so frantic?”  In our efforts to do everything and be everywhere and please everyone, are we missing something more, something longer lasting, and maybe even someone who really needs us.

Just like the wise King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes “there is nothing new under the sun.” Jesus spoke multiple times about “rest” and “abiding”, but was that just applicable for another time period? Did Jesus understand the demands on our days and that we have things to do, places to be and people to see? I believe He understood completely! His Word is living and active and breathed out by God so that when we read verses like Matthew 11:28-29, we can know that Jesus is talking to us in the midst of our chaotic schedules.

“Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Those words sound so comforting, right? Our good God, the I AM of the universe, calls us to come to Him because He knows that we are weary and burdened. He reminds us that when we come to Him, He will give us rest. This isn’t just a sit down, put your feet up kind of rest. This is a soul rest, a deep inhale, a peace of knowing that it does NOT all depend upon us. Once we experience this rest, we can begin to have perspective and see the things that are really important, really valuable and provide long lasting impact in the lives of others. These verses and others confront that “busy on the inside” reality, but how do we experience this rest?

While you are thinking on that question, let me pick up the story from above. After hearing this phrase, the woman knew it was truth and began asking the Lord how to slow down on the inside in such a fast paced world. She discovered the answer in the above passage of Scripture combined with John 15. It all began with an acknowledgment of her frantic, treadmill like schedule….you know the days, weeks and months that you are running, running and yet never quite making progress? And this acknowledgment was followed by coming to Jesus.  

The call of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29 is “come”! Friends, we could spend hours talking about this word! For now I will just let the Spirit use that word in your mind and heart to beckon you to draw near to the One who made you and loves you more than you can ever imagine. The verses go on to say that, “all” are called to come to Jesus and receive rest for our souls (especially all who are weary and burdened). If we could be together in a coffee shop right now, we could all raise our hands and agree that we are weary and burdened. Aren’t we really craving that soul rest, ladies? We want depth, we want to know that someone else can take these burdens, we want to be known, we want to have purpose and know that our lives mean something. All that we truly and deeply want begins with a simple act of coming to Jesus and encountering Him on the pages of the Bible.

Are you on the treadmill of life, currently? Are you busy on the inside, weary and frustrated? Are you afraid to jump off or even slow down? Then, join the club! You are the perfect friend I want on this journey with me!

Could we gather as All the KING’s Daughters and unite in making this our goal for 2018?

We want to come to Jesus and find soul rest and as a product of that rest, we want to live fruitful and purposeful lives. In addition, we want to love and be loved deeply by others!

I wish I could tell you that the woman in our story made all the changes and lived happily ever after, but instead……she’s still wresting with her own crazy heart, she’s determined to come to Jesus daily and she is writing this blog with the hopes of encouraging other friends who are weary of being “busy on the inside”. Blessings my sisters! Be of good courage and make time today to “Be still and know that He is God” Psalm 46:10.