I have always wanted to be superwoman.
The girl who’s always on top of it.
Ready to save the world.
Do anything and everything anyone ever asks of her.
Carry the hurt, the pain, the burdens of everyone around her.
Fix everyone’s problems.
Face each day with a big smile on her face, a “go-getter” attitude, and 24-hour energy that never fades.
Fill my calendar with as many plans as possible with church, with family, with work, and with friends.
And never take a moment for a break.
Because superwoman… she doesn’t need a break.
She just needs to accomplish one more thing on the list before she can hit her head on the pillow at night.
She just needs to run one extra mile before she can allow herself to stop and rest.
That used to be me.
Running around from morning until night trying to get a million things done.
And I wouldn’t stop until I was totally burnt out.
Until waking up in the morning became the hardest thing because I had no more energy left to face the day.
I had no more desire to do one more thing.
I was too tired to keep on going.
And I felt discouraged, alone, and disappointed with myself.
Because I failed.
Failed at being superwoman.
At getting it all done like I was supposed to.
All because I wouldn’t let myself stop and take a break.
Press pause for a few minutes and rest long enough to be renewed and refreshed for a new day.
I thought taking a break was a sign of laziness and weakness.
A sign that you couldn’t handle what the day would bring.
But it all changed one day when I realized there was a man in the Bible who was never ashamed to take a break.
A man whose schedule was busier than mine.
Who had more important people to meet with than I do.
Who had greater things to do than I ever will.
And He took breaks not only when He absolutely had no choice but to but because they were part of His daily routine.
Who is this man?
Yep – you guessed it – the One and only Son of God Himself.
Even when crowds gathered to listen to Him speak and see His miracles He would withdraw to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:15-16)
Sometimes He would spend the whole night pouring His heart out before God on a mountain (Luke 6:12)
Early in the morning before the sun would rise and the world would wake He got up and went to a solitary place to be with God (Mark 1:35).
For some reason Jesus made it part of His daily routine to get away from everything going on in His world to spend time alone with God, whether it was in the morning, during the day, or in the middle of the night.
Even when there were people crowding around waiting for Him to speak.
Nothing got in the way of Jesus taking a break from His schedule to go spend time in the presence of God.
He was the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God… and He considered it important to stop it all just to slow down and pray.
To turn off the noise of the world, the chatter of the people around Him and just spend some moments alone in quietness with God.
Taking a break was never a sign of weakness for Him, instead it was a sign of strength.
Because Jesus knew that in order to fulfill what God called Him to do on earth He’d never be able to do it on His own.
He’d never be able to endure the pain and suffering ahead without His Father right beside Him.
And He didn’t even try.
He knew there was only so much He could do in His human body without His heavenly Father renewing Him, encouraging Him, and strengthening Him daily.
Yet so often we think we can get away living life without prayer.
We put spending time with God on the end of our “to do” list and we can go days without getting away to meet with Him.
And we end up burning out.
Because we were never meant to be superman or superwoman.
We were never meant to bear all the burdens of the world alone.
We were never meant to handle every obstacles that life throws our way without a helping hand.
We were never meant to run ourselves so busy with our schedules and plans that we forget the purpose of our life and why we even do what we do in the first place.
Many times God tells us in His Word to come to Him.
To cast our cares on Him.
To be refreshed, strengthened and renewed in Him.
To get away from all the chaos going on in our world, find a place where we can be alone with Him and pour out our heart before Him (Matthew 6:6).
Hand all of our worries over to Him and have Him fill our heart with peace.
Surrender our battles to Him and allow Him to fight on our behalf.
Give Him all of our insecurities and shortcoming to Him so that He can remind us once again of our identity and worth in Him.
Tonight… don’t run around one minute longer.
Don’t think that you have to do it all on your own.
Learn from Jesus and take some time to stop.
Find your secret place and fall on your knees before God.
Tell Him how you feel and what you’re going through.
Talk to Him like He’s your best friend – because He is.
And know that once you are done you will not come out the same.
You’ll be renewed and refreshed and ready to take on tomorrow once again.
Be blessed and find your peace and rest in Christ! -Anna… ♥
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” -Matthew 6:6
Great lesson in life! Thank you for sharing this!
No problem 🙂 Be blessed!
A wonderful post, thanks for the insights!
Thank you Michele!
Such good advice! Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Thank you Natalie. Be blessed!
Wow… I read this post after running errands after work, heating up dinner, sending some emails, vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the kitchen, sorting the Christmas gifts, doing 2 loads of laundry, taking the dog out, texting a friend, bathing the dog……………………….. all in 2 hours time. I think I need a BREAK. Thank you for this PRESS PAUSE post. It was well needed. xoxo
I think you definitely need a break Caitlin!! I got tired just by reading that list 😉 It seems that around this season our workload and schedules double. 🙁 May we all remind ourselves to stop and take a break at Jesus’ feet before we totally burn out! Be blessed and make sure to take some time to relax this weekend!
You are so right! Thanks to a freak ice storm, I am off work today. I took a walk, read the Word, read a book, and I AM relaxing! 🙂 you’re right about this season.
Thank you for blogging this! Taking time for God every day is essential!
Yes it is! Without it we’ll get burned out!
So true!
This is beautiful! A great reminder to press pause because it’s never about us going through life on our own but to lean on Him.
Thank you Irene! Amen!! With God we can handle everything that comes our way but without Him we’ll be soon overwhelmed by all the worries and burdens of this world. I’m so glad I have Him to give me strength and renew me for each new day!
Reblogged this on Forgiven and Free.
Really good…praying is like breathing….without it we’ll die.
Exactly! Sometimes we don’t know how much we need it until we realize we haven’t spent time with God in a long time.
I totally relate to this post. Its amazing thank you so much for your writing!
You’re welcome. 🙂 Hope you have a lovely (and restful) weekend. Be blessed!
“Tell Him how you feel and what you’re going through. Talk to Him like He’s your best friend – because He is.” It took me going through a few very lonely years to be able to do this. I use to want to talk to someone about my issues or even just my everyday life, but there never was anyone to talk to. Talking to God as I would a friend was something I learned during this time. My ‘loneliness’ was a blessing from God. I often say to people that you can chat to God just like a friend, often their response is of surprise. Like that is not something that had thought possible. I try to talk to God all day.
I think many people go through seasons of loneliness (for this particular reason), to draw nearer to God because He is the only one we have to run to. I went through that season myself a few years back and I’m so glad that during that time I was able to find the best friend I needed not in a person but in Him. I know that no matter who enters or leaves my life I will never really be alone as long as I have Christ by my side and I’m thankful that He taught me that lesson early on. 🙂
Yes, as am I. It is so comforting!
Great post, and timely for this time of year. Blessings.
Thanks Mel. Blessings to you as well!
You always wow me in what you right and how you write it, Anna.
“We were never meant to run ourselves so busy with our schedules and plans that we forget the purpose of our life and why we even do what we do in the first place.” No, I haven’t been trying to fill my schedule so full that I’m worn to the core, but my mind seems to want to pack my mind full of other things, people, everyday experiences, that I haven’t been reading my Bible as often as I used to. I hadn’t been taking second thoughts about it, much less first thoughts. Well, that was until today. All this week, it seemed as though God, through others, was calling out to me, trying to get me to come back to Him. So I did. I started reading again. Now, thanks to your post, I know I’m on the right track. My mind just needed a break of all this world has to offer, and pause to fix my eyes back on Him. Thank you. ~Cookie
Thanks Cookie! I don’t think my writing is THAT great, simply whatever is on my heart, but I’m happy that me working things out through words on here is helpful to others as well.
I’m happy that you were able to take time to read God’s Word and get your mind back on track this week. Sometimes it’s easy to get so distracted with our thoughts that even though we may not be too busy we still end up not putting time aside to spend with God. May you continue to take those daily breaks with Christ so He can help you stay focused and be renewed for the days ahead. Be blessed and have a lovely weekend!
Yeah. This year, I’ve been really lost at what God wants me to do next. So many things that were a part of my weekly schedule have been taken away. And I really felt lost when I stopped reading and focusing my thoughts on Him. Now, I don’t feel so lost and confused any more, thanks to God feeding me spiritually again through His Word.
I just made this comment to someone yesterday. Even the perfect took rest from outside troubles and cares. Thank you for sharing!
Exactly. That’s why God made sure to give us a day specifically for resting. He knew we would need it! 🙂
This is a great encouragement and challenge to think things through a little more. I have a terrible time just focusing on anything for very long. I have often just wanted to get away for just a little while for the express reason to spend time praying and reading God’s Word. To take a drive into the mountains and just spend the day enjoying God’s creation, away from everything, out of cell range, and just alone… It’s a very peaceful and refreshing experience that’s often forgotten in this busy world. Thank you Anna, for reminding me to take a breather from this world.
That’s so awesome! I’m the same exact way. I’m always so busy with work, church, and life and when I get overwhelmed with everything on my plate I love to go somewhere out in nature to be alone with God and get renewed with Him once again. (Good thing I live in Washington, I never run out of great places to go) 😉 Thanks for stopping by! May God bless you and fill your heart with joy and your mind with peace as you greet this new year with Him!
Alone time with God is my favorite thing in the world. He’s amazing.
Good stuff Anna