Welcome to Week Three of Commit to Live Fit! 40-Day Challenge.

 This Week’s Lenten Focus: Prioritizing the discipline of rest

What is Lent? Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ – his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. [1]

Jesus left the chaos of the culture to get away alone, to rest in the Father’s presence, and to find rest for His soul.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High God, will rest in the Shadow of the Almighty. –Psalm 91:1

You’ll notice that the disciplines each week are easy to do, but just as easy to let go of. Lean in; engage with God as we take this journey. You carry the treasure of the Spirit of the Living God in you! Ponder this week the power of God’s cleansing work in your life. He’s made you new! No spot or stain on you! Care for your physical and spiritual health in a way that honors God.

Last Week’s Disciplines:
Stretch Your Muscles
Stretch Your Faith

This Week’s Disciplines:
Prioritize Nighttime Rest (7-9 Hours for Rest/Sleep)
Cultivate a Restful Heart

Physical Discipline: Get 7-9 Hours of Sleep
I truly believe that rest is the most underrated discipline of our day. We dip into our sleep time so we can get more done in a day, not realizing we’re ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul.’ If we go too long without regular and consistent rest, it deeply impacts our health, perspective, and ability to live strong. When we de-prioritize rest, we make more mistakes, we use costly shortcuts, and we make ourselves more vulnerable to the enemy’s schemes. It’s critical that we prioritize rest and so here’s what I’m asking you to do this week:

Make time and space in your evening for 7-9 hours of sleep. So let’s say you have to wake up every morning at 6am. For you to give yourself a 7-9 hour window, that means you need to start your night routine at 9pm so you can be in bed by 10pm. This is the time to turn off your computer and TV, and stop your housework. Hey, it’s a perfect time to stretch! And pray! And read! Use that one-hour window to prepare your heart and mind for sleep. I’m telling you, this will be a very life-giving discipline.

Benefits of Sleep:

  • Body heals
  • Stronger immune system
  • Renewed perspective
  • Higher ability to learn
  • Less chance of mistakes
  • Health maintenance

 

Spiritual Discipline: Cultivate a ‘Restful’ Heart

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High God will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. –Psalm 91:1 

What does it mean to ‘dwell in the secret place’? It’s to walk in His presence as you live here on earth (see Psalm 116:9). It’s to make time and space to meet with God, to listen for His voice, and to do what He says. It’s to live with the sense that you’re tucked under His protective wing, and to identify yourself as His with every step you take on planet earth. Now read that passage again: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High God will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. When you dwell with Him, you can more easily rest in Him. He has you and is intimately acquainted with every detail of your life.

Here’s another important verse:

Cease striving and know that He is God -Psalm 46:10

We get into striving and we work on overdrive when we forget that more is up to God than up to us. The word, ‘know’ in this verse speaks of a single-minded intimacy (not allowing anything to get between you and God). Can you see why the enemy works overtime to distract your from the goodness and the greatness of our God? You’re most powerful in your walk of faith and most restful amidst stressful circumstances when you know in your soul, that He is God and that you belong to Him.

Learn to rest in Him. He loves you deeply.

And, I challenge you to make your nighttime routine a priority; get the sleep your body needs. That discipline will pay you back in great dividends!

I’ll be praying for you as you add these healthy yet simple disciplines to your life.

May you flourish in health, both physically and spiritually!

Let’s do this!

Father – help me to establish a healthy rhythm in my life, both physically and spiritually. Help me to prioritize those things that make a world of difference in my life, but that are just as easy to neglect. Remind me when it’s time to stop working, turn off the TV or computer, and to meet with You before my head hits the pillow. Grant me deep and nourishing sleep and teach my heart while I rest in You. May I wake up each morning restored, healed, and refreshed. Help me to guard my heart against anxious thoughts and anxious ways. I have a tendency to let go of the things nourish me and to do the things that weaken me. Forgive me, Lord! I want to lay hold of all You have for me: rest, strength, health, and life abundantly. And it starts today. Lead me in the way that I should go. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

How do you plan to incorporate these disciplines into your week?

How are your doing on the disciplines from the last two weeks?