OVERCOMING DISTRACTION (7): DO NOT OVER-COMPENSATE YOURSELF WITH REST
There was a time when I needed to pull back and rest a bit. My body was already showing the signs of ‘I need you to slow down a bit and catch a rest,’ so I decided to take a rest.
I made a discovery—the rest of a day or two suddenly dulled my spirit. I noticed I was not as sharp as I should be. Initially, I justified that I needed to just rest a bit more. It did not work. The rest looked like I was ‘arrested.’
I switched immediately. I began to pray at designated times and regular intervals. That was the revival I needed. It was like a ‘spiritual drip’ (IV fluid).
It is a dangerous thing to rest at the wrong time or to rest beyond what is adequate. The thought that you need to rest more may be the opening that the devil is looking at.
The young prophet was resting when the old prophet caught up with him. Things you have no business with can become a trap when you choose the wrong time to rest. Things are coming after you that must not find you sitting.
He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “Yes,” he answered.
1 Kings 13:14 GW
David was pulled back from war at the time when the kings battled because he had raised men who could do the work, and at least, it was not a crime to rest. That was the beginning of his troubles. He got caught in ‘live pornography’. He fed on the live feed of nudity. He began to act on what he had fed on. He fell into great shame.
Did you see that posture of Samson? He was finding rest in the wrong bosom. He laid his head on Delilah’s lap. He needed sleep. But he slept in the wrong place.
Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, called for a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
Judges 16:19 NKJV
You must not slack for yourself. And it is important to tell those who hold you accountable not to slack for you also. You must say to those who hold you accountable what the woman of Shunem said to her rider:
Slacken not the pace for me.
Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.”
II Kings 4:24 NKJV
In what area are you overcompensating yourself? Do you know previous experiences of lack or inadequacy can lead to geed when opportunities come? You can become so materialistic. Watch it. It is a trap.
temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa