Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Slumped down against the wall outside her bedroom, I buried my head in my hands. I had tried to put my then three-year-old down for a nap, instead I heard her howling and jumping on her bed in protest. Weeks of sleeplessness and tantrums, nights of teething and waking to use the potty…Weary for rest, I cried out to God.
I don’t remember the exact words I prayed, but I remember admitting that I had no idea what I was doing raising a strong-willed child. I was angry, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Admittedly, there were some days I didn’t think I wanted to be a mom anymore. I carried guilt for feeling this way—after all she was my rainbow baby—and I held false expectations for myself as a mom.
I thought I could do it all: keep the house clean, cook and bake, make Pinteresty crafts, volunteer at church, be available to my husband and friends. If I did everything well, wouldn’t that prove that I had earned the “good mom” badge? Instead, I felt like I was failing everyone, and especially God. I would try to spend time in His word, but my attention was more worn and thinned out than the knees of my yoga pants for lack of prayer. I desperately needed restoration and renewal.
In her book Wonderstruck, Margaret Feinberg calls rest one of the greatest wonders of all. That apart from divine gift of rest we cannot fully awaken to the presence of God.
“I came to see rest as a divine invitation to make the physical, emotional, and spiritual confession that God is Lord of all. If I affirm that God holds everything together…When I enter into God’s rest, I crawl into bed knowing the world lounges safely in his hands.”
What can you adjust to set boundaries on your need for rest? What healthy rhythms can you establish in order to awaken to the life God offers you?
Restore
Read the verse of the day: PSALM 51:12
Look up today’s verse and read it in context of the chapter. Have a pen and paper ready. We will work through five steps.
- Write down the Bible verse.
- Find the key word and circle it.
- Look up the definition of the word (notice how it is used in context).
- If you are reading from a different translation of the Bible, which word is used instead?
- Underline where you find a promise. Find the heart of this verse and mark it with a heart shape.
(Click here for How to Use a Word Study.)
Meditation
What does this verse reveal about God’s heart? How does this truth refresh your soul? Turn this into your prayer today.
Please leave a comment below to share something that touched you in today’s devotional.
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