There are times in the life of every artist, when the art is labored, and the gratification is lacking luster; and, you wonder if you will ever produce anything of value again. Words that once flowed like breath now fall like bricks.

Night-fall is near, as I walk silently through crimson and melon colored leaves, kicking them into the air with each step – listening to the swish as leaves are parting, allowing my boots make their way to the dirt road.

Squirrels scurry up the tree and watch as I pass.  All I can hear is the beating of my heart, as the One who gives breath slowly volleys the air I breathe in, back and forth with me. I breathe out, and He catches it; I breathe in, as He returns it.

Could it be that this is God’s sanctified rest before walking into the next leg of our journey?

Yet, when Christ sits you down for a rest, and you watch others whizzing past on their way to where you think you should go, the rest seems like an eternity.  As any good parent will do, He stays you in the rest until you actually REST.

And the body fights the rest.

At the mere mention of the word, my body wants to jump up and move.  The world tells me my value is in the motion, composition, production, and presentation.

There is no pat on the back for good rest by the world.

Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey ‘people.’ People say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war… Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of the rest. ~C. S. Lewis

I sit quietly – but, there is no pure silence.  He speaks – He is always speaking.  It is in the rest that we learn to listen.

It is in the rest that life becomes clearer.

It is in His holy rest that we find the courage to step out of what is familiar, into the unknown, the unpracticed, and the unrehearsed.

In the Rest we are restored.

Restoration always begins with Rest.

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Diane W. Bailey

Diane W. Bailey is the founder of The Consilium – an online community of wisdom and purpose for women over 45 years of age. She is a published author. Her books include String of Pearls – From Tears to Treasure, and 30 Days To A Better Stepfamily. She creates her own line of precious metals bracelets. Diane lives in the Deep South with her husband Doc. Together they have created a stepfamily, each having two stepchildren and two birth children, and share three grandchildren, one black lab named Charlie and one long haired tabby cat named Lil Girl. Diane’s passion is to encourage women to be all God has created them to be by pressing past fear and daring to live life as an adventure. Some of her life adventures include traveling to Israel, speaking, entrepreneurship and backyard farming with Doc. She loves Gumbo, fried shrimp and seeing all sunsets across water.

Latest posts by Diane W. Bailey (see all)

• What God Can Do with A Shattered Heart - September 5, 2022
• When It Is Time to Bring Your Ship Ashore - January 2, 2018
• Art Of Hospitality – How to Love Others As Ourselves - November 27, 2017

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