Rest Stops

Don’t you appreciate the rest stops on the interstates? I need what they provide. A bathroom, a place to walk, an area where I can safely take a nap in my car. If I rush past all of them and don’t take the opportunity to stretch my limbs, I get very stiff!

When the doctor knows that we are going on a trip, he always warns us to stop every couple of hours to take a break. Our daughter tells us the same thing. We always say, “Sure.” But when we get on the road, and we’re in a rush to get to the destination, it’s hard to stop my husband. But what if we didn’t stop at gas stations when we needed gas and a break? What if we ignored all the warning signs and just kept going? We’d pay for the mistake by running out of gas.

Do you ever run out of gas spiritually? What has depleted your energy? Not enough stops to fill up the tank? And what do those stops entail? Sometimes just a quick pick me up in the Word will keep us going. But we are so busy and distracted that we fail to keep track of the gauge. Sometimes we need extended rest periods. Waiting on the Lord, which isn’t always easy, but worth it in the long haul.

Psalm 27:14 – “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Isaiah 40:30-31 – “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

Lamentations 3:26 – “It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

How’s that for a rest stop?

“Flyin’ Like an Eagle” from “Singing On”