Rest

1 Kings 19:^1-3 “When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done… So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.” Elijah was afraid and fled for his life…”

The first spiritual exercise for a healthy heart is The Exercise of Rest. 1 Kings 19:⁴ “Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. 

“I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” God probably looked and Elijah and said, ‘You are disillusioned boy, sit down under the tree and sleep.’And that was all Elijah was doing—sleeping, eating, and drinking water. He was in an almost infinite loop of eating, sleeping, and drinking. That was all he needed. The truth is every time you do not rest and you allow the voice of discouragement to make you disillusioned, or you allow the voice of fear to make you discontent, you actually lose your place in God, and you wander away from where God has planted you.

Many people have allowed disillusionment and fear to chase them out of their assignments. The first two times God spoke to Elijah, God asked him the same question. 1 Kings 19:^9&13 “…But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” … he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And some of you, like Elijah, have allowed discontentment, discouragement, disillusionment, and fear to cripple you. And you have wandered out of the place of your assignment. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the grace that relocated Elijah will relocate you. And for those who are being intimidated, the power of God will break that spirit of fear in Jesus Mighty Name (say Amen).

We see that heart attacks attempt to take us out of our place of assignment when all we need most times is rest. It is not a time to speak in tongues. It is not the time to do a video. It is not the time to fast and pray, Elijah. It is time to rest! All you need most times to get your heart’s perspective back is to rest. If you do not sleep for a week, you will be disillusioned. You will be hearing voices and seeing things you ought not to be seeing. Some people are sleeping but they are not even resting. Do you know that we are made to shut down for a third of our lives?

If you are forty-five years old, you would have slept for a third of your life, which is fifteen years. Fifteen years of your life sleeping. God is sending us a big message. If you are thirty years old, you would have slept for ten solid years of your life. The message there is if you do not rest, you cannot be at rest, and your mind will be in turmoil. So, take a breather and just rest.

Prayer: Father, help me to be deliberate about engaging the exercise of rest, thereby keeping my heart healthy spiritually and physically, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!