A Little Rest

The Lord has been popping a specific Scripture into my head for the last several days, but I couldn't figure out why. Even though I've been very busy and on the edge of sick, He kept repeating it to me over and over:

Proverbs 6:10-11
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need like a bandit.

First of all, even though I wanted to complain to Him that I was too busy, I knew there were times that I did just sit there and rest. Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with resting. In fact, I believe that we really need to more often in our modern lives. I'm not, however, talking about cutting corners. I'm talking about cutting out. "Sorry, no. I can't be on that committee."  "No. We really don't have time in our schedule for that sport."  "I'd love to help you out once a week, but I just can't."  Rest from multi-tasking ourselves to death is a good thing.

So what, I wondered, was He talking about? Two different lessons came to me today as I asked Him once again, to please explain:

1. What kind of resting are we doing? 
After that question came to me, I realized that the resting I was doing was certainly not profitable in any way except for slowing my metabolism. I was typically watching a movie, a video, or surfing the web. None of these are wrong in moderation, but there was no benefit I was getting from it either. All  I was doing was losing sleep and quality time with my family. I suddenly realized that I had not read a book or played a game with my kids in two weeks and was more exhausted than ever. I had been robbed of them both and didn't realize it. The problem was that my mindset was wrong in resting.

2. What about resting a little in the spiritual sense?
That made me stop and think a bit. These verses were also speaking about losing quality time with God. Read Proverbs 6:10-11 again and think about what happens when we put off our quiet time with God because we get too busy or want to relax in another way? We come to a point of spiritual poverty and our need becomes very great. This is not to say we are not busy doing God things or even studying His Word. I have discovered over time that I desperately need time each day to just read the Bible and not study it. To have no agenda or specific verses to read, but to just love it. This is something I had rested from lately. Oh, I was studying for three different Bible classes as well as writing everyday, but I had forgot to love it, just because it's there, and I found I was becoming impoverished.

Have some quality time with God today. Ask Him to let you know if poverty or need is sneaking up on you because of resting in the wrong way. Pray that you will have a heart willing to listen and change anything you might need to. Then praise Him for loving you enough to care in reshaping your heart for Him.