Rest and Reflection

How do we reap what we have been sowing without it feeling like another to-do item on our list? Let's trust God's command to recount the good work He has done in our lives. 

Resources:

Poem by CT Studd

Norman Doidge 

@thisistrustworthy

trustworthypodcast.com

Email us listen@trustworthypodcast.com

Transcript

0.000000 8.880000 Walking in obedience can mean walking into blessing, but I need to know why I want to understand
8.880000 19.200000 is God trustworthy? Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm Mary Beth. Join us as we seek to answer this question
19.200000 25.520000 through whole-hearted conversation. Discover the wit and wisdom that comes from being anchored in
25.520000 33.760000 Christ and connected to one another. This is "Trustworthy."
33.760000 50.480000 Well, hello there, Mary Beth. Hello, once again, Sarah. From the Zoom
51.360000 58.880000 Studio of "Trustworthy" podcast. With me to the theme. Yeah, I know. This winter is
58.880000 66.000000 full of Zoom episodes, which is great. Glad for technology to be able to do it. I am enjoying
66.000000 72.640000 referring to the beginning of this year as the winter of our disc content. Between illnesses,
73.520000 81.440000 accidents, loved ones passing away, cold frozen. It is winter in every sense of the word. Yes,
81.440000 86.640000 it is truly winter in every sense of the word. Dear listeners, thanks for hanging in there with us.
86.640000 93.760000 And I think it's a good time and a winter of discontent to reflect on some goodness,
93.760000 101.600000 which is what we're going to get into today. Yes, the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
101.600000 110.160000 What a promise. We talked last fall back when it was sunny and warm. We could ride our bike whenever
110.160000 118.160000 we wanted to. Talk last fall about changing seasons and what we could be sowing into the current
118.160000 127.040000 season of our life to reap in the following seasons. And I did and I am, which I think is helping,
127.040000 136.080000 even though it's the winter of our discontent, I've found some joy and some warmth and some happiness
136.080000 147.040000 in this time. Mary Beth, you and I got to go out to lunch. It was my birthday, which was a nice
147.040000 153.840000 treat for me. But yeah, it's finding intentional time with people in your life can help a lot,
153.840000 159.280000 especially in the winter. But it's also good for us as podcast hosts to
159.280000 166.960000 walk the talk that we're telling people about everything we do on this podcast. We really are just
166.960000 174.960000 teaching ourselves. It's somewhat embarrassed to admit that it was the first time that we had
175.920000 185.200000 done something just as friends. And it was a good reminder that hey, we can just hang out. We don't
185.200000 191.440000 always have to be producing a podcast or working on writing or other things that we are connected
191.440000 200.400000 doing. We can do some being. Yes, I think it was a success. I feel like we could be friends,
200.400000 207.280000 Mary Beth. We probably could. I think we laid a pretty good foundation in that lunch. I think so too.
207.280000 214.320000 We're still reaping the benefits of that. But we did have quite a few episodes where we talked about
214.320000 220.800000 kind of the seasons of change and what are we thankful for it and kind of look back on what we've
220.800000 231.200000 been sewing and maybe start to reap some of those benefits. Yeah, in my last week of having the flow,
231.200000 240.240000 I would like to infuse that sentence with a different meaning than I originally intended it to have.
240.240000 245.120000 I would like last week to be the last time that I ever have the flu.
249.280000 258.880000 Over the last week, as I had the flu, I had a lot of time for rest and reflection, forced rest and
258.880000 268.720000 reflection. And it occurred to me that some of the things I've been praying for years, God was
268.720000 281.440000 answering, but in ways that I didn't really like. Sometimes the answers to our prayers come to us
281.440000 289.680000 when we're dealing with a tribulation or a trial. And that became apparent to me as I've been kind
289.680000 298.240000 of in this slower time of sitting in my chair trying to just endure. I think many of you listening to
298.240000 302.240000 this have probably recently had the flu. So you don't understand what I'm saying.
302.240000 313.280000 When we have the attitude that we are striving, that we are achieving, that we are accomplishing,
313.280000 320.480000 which I am. I am a person that likes to be in motion. Those of you that know me know one of my favorite
320.480000 327.040000 phrases is one of the laws of physics, a body in motion stays in motion, but I don't always
327.600000 334.640000 take time to think about what I've been doing or the repercussions of what I've done, like the sewing
334.640000 342.000000 and the reaping and so forth. That idea of accomplishing or striving towards a goal,
342.000000 351.600000 but this is never enough, that is something that lives in tension with what has God done. Yes,
351.600000 355.440000 I have things that I want to accomplish. I have work that I know that God wants me to do.
356.560000 362.240000 I need to keep becoming more like Christ. I need to. It can be all worthwhile goals, but
362.240000 371.360000 we have to take time to look back on what he has done and what he is doing. And we're going to talk
371.360000 379.440000 a little bit more about why that's so important later, but I want to talk right now about this tension
379.440000 386.240000 that exists in the things that I just mentioned. When we are working towards something, a goal,
386.240000 392.480000 there is a gap between where we are now and where we want to be. And there are many of you listening,
392.480000 398.480000 they're like, yeah, exactly. That's the chance I get to achieve something. Well, we're also called to
398.480000 409.680000 rest and reflect. There is a tension between achieving and resting. Living in that gap is what this
409.680000 417.840000 world is all about. Someday, we will be with Jesus. We will be in His presence. The world will be
417.840000 426.080000 made new. There will be no lack of anything. But where we are right now is not there. So we must keep
426.080000 433.440000 striving. We must keep working towards that goal. There is an inherent tension in us because we're
433.440000 442.720000 children of eternity on the run from entropy. This idea of resting while we're also achieving,
442.720000 450.880000 it is hard, Mary Beth. And we're not perfect yet. Well, and it's just what you're saying. We're not
450.880000 458.880000 perfect yet. The work is going to continue the side of heaven. One of my favorite kind of little
458.880000 468.000000 poems about this is by CT Studd, who was a missionary in the, I think, late 1800s, early 1900s.
468.000000 474.000000 And this is just a little part of, it was just probably familiar to some people out there. This little
474.000000 482.640000 poem that he wrote, it says, "Only one life, a few brief years, each with its burdens, hopes and fears,
483.520000 490.240000 each with its clays, I must fulfill, living for self or in his will, only one life will soon be
490.240000 495.520000 passed, only what's done for Christ will last. When this bright world would tempt me sore,
495.520000 501.120000 when Satan would, a victory score, when self would seek to have its way, then help me lord with joy
501.120000 506.560000 to say, only one life will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last."
506.560000 513.120000 And that is a beautiful representation of the good work we do need to be doing.
513.440000 518.400000 That what we do here matters for eternity, only what's done for Christ will last.
518.400000 525.760000 And a great encouragement that no matter what happens, this good work that we are doing,
525.760000 531.600000 this striving, this looking at the future, just knowing that this world will pass, all those things
531.600000 540.960000 are good. And then also, it's not even a but, it's and also, God calls us to rest and to take
540.960000 547.120000 pause and to reflect. And it's exactly what you're saying. There is a tension there and a pull
547.120000 558.240000 and in some mysterious way, actually striving for rest can be a good thing as well, which is kind of
558.240000 566.720000 what we want to talk about a little bit. A big picture part of it is that rest is a way to be obedient
566.720000 573.280000 as well. I think that's correct. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. That's right. And it can
573.280000 580.320000 sound like just another thing to put on the checklist of, okay, now I have to honor the Sabbath. I have
580.320000 587.360000 to practice this form of obedience by resting, but the Sabbath was given to us as a gift. It's a
587.360000 593.280000 commandment that is also just a blessing. As Jesus said, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for
593.280000 600.560000 the Sabbath. What can that look like? What can being in community and keeping the Sabbath and
600.560000 605.440000 resting together? What can that really look like? I mean, I think it's heart posture, which
605.440000 610.480000 I'm just going to pause right here and define that term because we use it a lot. What do we mean by
610.480000 621.360000 heart posture? Our heart, we're referring to our mind, our soul, is appropriately positioned
621.360000 632.240000 in response to God as sovereign. There is a God, we're not him, and being open to what he has to say.
632.240000 639.200000 And as a Christian, our heart posture should be open to the Lord and the things of the Lord.
640.240000 646.320000 Sometimes we're told that we need to be open to the world around us. It's good to be open to good things,
646.320000 651.440000 but I think it's dangerous to be open to everything. Is it possible? Paul says,
651.440000 658.880000 everything is permissible, but not everything is advisable. Our heart posture is now defined.
658.880000 668.080000 So our heart posture is one of rest and enjoyment. Instead of an onerous task of keeping the Sabbath,
668.080000 676.560000 something that is burdensome and something that we don't look forward to, we can look at it
676.560000 683.920000 as a gift of relationship with joy. When you think about the Sabbath, have you made any
683.920000 690.640000 plans for it? Sometimes making some simple plans will increase your enjoyment of the Sabbath,
690.640000 696.720000 putting together a casserole to pop in the oven the next day, making a date ahead of time with
696.720000 702.720000 friends to get together. And thinking about the purpose of the Sabbath,
702.720000 709.680000 you mentioned this previously that Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,
709.680000 719.600000 we can hold that promise and that gift that stopping, resting, and reflecting will encourage us,
719.600000 725.600000 will energize us, will help us go back out into the world and do what we need to do.
726.560000 731.760000 It kind of refills our tank in a lot of ways because that's how it was designed to work.
731.760000 736.800000 Shocking, isn't it? Yeah, I know, right? Funny how things work, the way God says they do.
736.800000 742.080000 You kind of have this weekly Sabbath reminder that God has given us.
742.080000 748.560000 And there's also kind of just this ongoing looking back and reflecting on the work God has done.
749.680000 756.400000 There's a familiar biblical concept of making Ebenezers, little reminders of the work that God
756.400000 761.840000 has done in our lives. And Scripture talks about this several times, especially in the Psalms,
761.840000 770.080000 that where our boast comes from is not what we have done, but what the Lord has done. Psalm 342,
770.080000 776.960000 "My soul makes its boast in the Lord, let the humble hear and be glad." It's this instruction that we
776.960000 782.320000 should be boasting in the Lord. We should be talking about the work that he's doing.
782.320000 788.960000 Psalm 105 says, "Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name, make known among the nations what he has done."
788.960000 795.360000 Sing to him, sing praise to him, tell of all his wonderful acts. Remember the wonders he has done,
795.360000 803.360000 his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. So Scripture gives us this blueprint of one of the ways
804.480000 811.440000 to encourage ourselves and each other in community as to remember together the work that God has already
811.440000 818.560000 done. And that's where we kind of thought about, okay, how can we look back on recent seasons in
818.560000 823.440000 our life work we've done in the past few months? It might be something from 10 years ago that we're
823.440000 831.040000 just now realizing, oh, that's what God was doing. These are things that we need to recall. We need to
831.040000 837.600000 remind ourselves of them because they are for our good, they are for our encouragement as well as
837.600000 848.320000 for the glory of God. I wanted to also mention Psalm 66-16, come in here, all you who fear God. Let
848.320000 858.720000 me tell you what he has done for me. And this leads to the aspect of community. Sabbath, rest,
859.440000 868.640000 is commanded by God. And we also look at the regulations given to the nation of Israel.
868.640000 877.760000 There's a lot of community eating. There are festivals, there are dinners. And it's not lost on me
877.760000 888.720000 that this concept of Sabbath gains an extra layer, an extra advantage when it's shared with
888.720000 897.840000 the body of believers. The community that we live in is part of who we are. I mean, we're the sum total
897.840000 906.640000 of the five people that we spend the most time with. If we take the time to reflect and rest
906.640000 915.760000 in community, then it is simple to reflect on what God's been doing in our life when we are seeing it or
915.760000 923.600000 hearing it through the eyes and ears of another person. I don't often sit by myself and talk out
923.600000 928.720000 loud to myself about what's been going on in my life. Do you promise? You don't do that.
928.720000 940.560000 I'm not making any promises. It's not as effective anyway. I do talk to myself less now that I don't
940.560000 947.520000 live alone. If for many years of my life, I lived alone and was my own best companion anyway.
947.520000 954.720000 That's probably some healthy growth then. I think it probably is community coming back to that.
954.720000 964.400000 We have been working on the book of James in our small group, Marybeth, and this wisdom
965.200000 973.120000 that is being dispensed is a lot about living in community last week's episode. Talk about being
973.120000 980.800000 quick to listen slow to speak and slow to become angry. That involves another person, at least one.
980.800000 989.120000 Taking this time to rest and reflect in relationship, I think is really what we're driving at here.
989.120000 999.920000 And becomes a deeper explanation of why we have encouraged ourselves and other people to sit
999.920000 1007.680000 down with a friend. Take some time to talk about what's been going on. Good and bad. We are focusing
1007.680000 1013.840000 on this idea that we need to be in relationship. We've talked about this a lot.
1014.880000 1023.520000 And why it works that way is because God is relational. He is relational with himself and with us.
1023.520000 1030.560000 And it easily follows that then we would be at our best when we are in relationship with others.
1030.560000 1038.000000 So to answer the question of, well, why do we need to do this rest in reflection?
1039.520000 1045.840000 There's a few different answers. Oh, I know. Sarah, you're raising your hand. Yes. Yeah. God told us to
1045.840000 1053.760000 always a good Bible answer. So so being the Lord, we joke about it, but it's sometimes we forget
1053.760000 1060.640000 that that is a key part of it is walking in obedience can mean walking into blessing.
1062.000000 1069.920000 But I need to know why I like to know why I want to understand if we trust God's instructions
1069.920000 1077.280000 and laws and gifts for us. If we trust that they are true and good, then let's dig into it.
1077.280000 1083.360000 If the first step is obedience, let's understand how that actually manifests in our life and in our
1083.360000 1091.200000 bodies. Sarah, the ever present researcher has looked into this a little bit. I like learning
1091.200000 1097.440000 about the brain and the way it works. I think it's absolutely fascinating. So God has created us.
1097.440000 1103.600000 We are fearfully and wonderfully made. And he knows that our brains need to hear things more
1103.600000 1110.400000 than once. That means saying things out loud as we've encouraged you listeners to do in the past.
1110.400000 1116.000000 Saying things out loud to yourself is very powerful. Saying things out loud to other people while
1116.000000 1123.360000 you're listening and they're reflecting things back to you is also very helpful. One of my favorite
1123.360000 1129.440000 writers in this area of neuroplasticity, which is the brain's way of changing itself. Dr. Norman
1129.440000 1137.120000 Doidge, there's a book called the brain's way of healing. And in this book, he refers to something
1137.120000 1144.480000 called the residual effect, which is essentially the result when neurons fire and wire together.
1144.480000 1151.200000 So the neurons are the little things in our brain that connect thoughts and help us be able to do
1151.200000 1158.240000 things. They send little electrical pulses through. And when they connect together and they fire,
1158.240000 1164.560000 the electrical pulses go through. That means that they wire. They make a connection. The more we
1164.560000 1174.080000 complete that specific connection, the stronger that neural pathway becomes. For example, if you
1174.080000 1178.880000 brush your teeth in the morning and you continue to do it and you always have your toothbrush in
1178.880000 1183.600000 the same place and you do the same process every morning at the same time, it becomes a habit. Same with
1183.600000 1189.200000 thoughts. This could be negative thoughts. This could be positive thoughts. The more you stand up
1189.200000 1194.880000 in front of the mirror and you say something negative to yourself, the more you're going to start to
1194.880000 1198.800000 become that. The more you stand in the mirror and you say something positive yourself, the more you
1198.800000 1206.080000 start to become that. So in this book, he cites a study by a gentleman named Alfred Tomatis
1206.080000 1214.000000 who did a series of studies and produced some rules about sound. This man is quoted as saying
1214.000000 1221.840000 the ear is simply an external attribute of the cerebral cortex. What our ear hears
1222.880000 1231.360000 affects what our brain thinks. I know that that sounds really basic, but if our ear is not hearing
1231.360000 1240.400000 things, then our brain can't think them. And he proved this by explaining why native French speakers
1240.400000 1248.480000 can learn the American English language easier than they can learn British English. The reason why
1248.480000 1255.200000 is because in America, we speak our English at a certain range of decibels, which happens to coincide
1255.200000 1263.360000 with what the French language is spoken in. In England, they speak English in a different range
1263.360000 1269.600000 of decibels. So it was easier for native French speakers to learn American English than it was for
1269.600000 1279.440000 them to learn British English. When this doctor, Tomatis, designed a virtual ear to let native French
1279.440000 1288.080000 speakers hear British English in the decibels that they were accustomed to presto. They were able
1288.080000 1296.480000 to learn British English faster. This is so fascinating to me because it shows us that
1297.280000 1306.400000 what our ears are trained to hear is what our brain thinks. When we sit and hear things about
1306.400000 1313.600000 ourselves, true things, positive things, when we're reflecting on what God has done for us,
1313.600000 1322.880000 our brains think, "Hey, God is looking out for me. God is trustworthy. God is taking care of me.
1322.880000 1328.240000 This is what is true in my life." And that can change our entire outlook, Mary Beth.
1328.240000 1337.440000 And that we can't just hear it once, and it rewires our brain, right? The more you hear it,
1337.440000 1342.000000 the more it's repeated. You have the strength in the connection around. It has to be strengthened.
1342.000000 1346.160000 And God knows this, right? We were just talking about this before we started the recording.
1346.160000 1351.680000 Hey, we know that this is the topic that we're supposed to be discussing this week because both
1351.680000 1358.960000 of us have gotten so many external indicators that this is what we're supposed to talk about.
1358.960000 1364.800000 Yeah. In small group, what we were studying in James, when we had already picked this topic
1364.800000 1370.160000 for our podcast, then we were studying in James about faith and works, and that faith without
1370.160000 1379.040000 works is dead, and this concept of what we do for Christ is a natural reaction to our relationship
1379.040000 1387.680000 with him. That does not contribute to the salvation God has given us, but it is a natural part
1387.680000 1393.840000 of our relationship with the Lord, which ties right into what we're saying, that there is this
1393.840000 1400.880000 desire and response to want to strive and do these things for the glory of God,
1400.880000 1406.640000 and part of that is also being in a small group and talking about these things with others.
1406.640000 1411.280000 And resting and reflecting in community and relationship, resting and reflecting in relationship.
1411.280000 1414.000000 There we go. In the reaping, I don't know, there's maybe too many ours here.
1414.000000 1417.200000 Resting, reaping, reflecting.
1417.200000 1418.560000 Reflecting. Take your R word.
1418.560000 1418.880000 Yeah.
1418.880000 1427.840000 When we do this, resting and reflecting in community, we end up having this feeling of abundance in our
1427.840000 1435.440000 spirit because we're like, wow, God is just doing all these things. Instead of living in that
1435.440000 1440.720000 gap between where we are and where we need to be, we're living in a feeling of abundance.
1440.720000 1444.800000 That's really important. Again, the part of that tension, like, yes, you need to be achieving,
1444.800000 1452.880000 but also holding that abundance, that blessing that we get will build our relationships because
1452.880000 1454.000000 then everybody's blessed.
1454.000000 1461.120000 If you look at all of the things you encounter throughout your week, all the messages you're hearing,
1462.160000 1466.480000 all of the information that is going into your brain and the neurons that are firing,
1466.480000 1476.240000 why would we not want a big portion of those to be truth and relationship building and boasting
1476.240000 1484.640000 and what the Lord has done? It changes our brains as we've learned today. It changes our relationship
1484.640000 1491.120000 with the Lord and relationship with other people. And it just brings encouragement to ourselves,
1491.120000 1495.680000 but like you're saying, Sarah, there is an overflow of that into the lives of those around us,
1495.680000 1503.920000 and I often get caught up in thinking about we're living in darkness. But those living in darkness
1503.920000 1509.280000 have seen a great light. This is another way for us to be a part of light in the darkness.
1509.280000 1517.440000 There are verses in the Bible that speak about God being our portion and what better way
1517.440000 1526.400000 than to come to a table where Christ is a centerpiece. Those times that we share reflecting,
1526.400000 1536.480000 resting, they will give us the encouragement and the ability to keep going, to keep pressing on,
1536.480000 1543.280000 to live in that tension between the now and the not yet. Those are the tables that we will always
1543.280000 1551.120000 leave feeling refreshed, renewed. And they are a reflection of or a foreshadowing of
1551.120000 1558.640000 the table and the feast that is to come when we are with Christ and the flesh. That's right.
1558.640000 1566.400000 Think of that promise every time we share in communion. So we hope that you find some ways and find
1566.400000 1578.640000 some people to reflect with and to boast in what the Lord has been doing in your life this week.
1578.640000 1591.040000 Hey y'all, Mary Beth here. Sarah and I are so glad that you chose to listen to our podcast.
1591.040000 1596.560000 And while we think that we're awesome friends to have, we just wanted to clarify that we are not
1596.560000 1601.040000 mental health professionals and want you to know that this podcast should not take the place
1601.040000 1602.960000 of any paid professional advice.