Use your License

 

The concept of the license is an interesting one – it makes an otherwise illegal action perfectly legal. For example, all that is required to drive is to have a license; nobody will ask you where you trained or if you trained – just produce your license and you are accepted as a legal user of the road. The same applies to almost all professions; you need to be licensed to practice.                                 Image from Google Image

If only we will apply the same principle to the issue of rest. The holiday season is here and even in countries where there isn’t a long holiday, there are still some days off. The question is what do we do with those days. For us as women, wives, and mothers, we are likely to spend the festive season cooking and cleaning. The Coronavirus brings a new twist to it with the government in many countries urging people to stay at home without large gatherings. This should be enough reason to use the time to rest after all there won’t be many mouths to feed so that means less cooking and cleaning. But some of us are so addicted to being busy that we won’t even use the opportunity to rest.

The unfortunate truth is that many of us don’t even know how to rest; we feel guilty if we switch off our stoves or laptops, recline the chair, watch Netflix, or read a book. Sometimes we are so obsessed with the next thing that we forget to live in the present. Some of us have already lived the first six months of next year in our minds. We just don’t know how to slow down. But we must because if we don’t, we are likely to come unhinged and enter the new year flustered and tried.

 Let me announce to you that you have a license to rest. You are licensed to rest. The problem with the license is that they are no use if you don’t use them. And many of us are unaware that we have the license in the first place. God gave us the license when He Himself took a rest. In fact, he dedicates one day a week to resting and getting revitalised; not that He needs it because like Isaiah said the Lord does not get tired, but He instituted it to show us how important it is.

Failure to rest may sometimes be a symptom of a lack of trust in God and other people. With so many losses of income and good health for some people, it seems unlikely to have rest on the agenda. But sometimes, we need to go into that mode for fresh ideas to come. God may just be waiting for us to quieten down for Him to speak to us and show us the next thing.  

Sometimes we feel that we need to be in charge, or everything will fall apart. I often tell myself that life will go on if I drop dead. It is hilarious to think that people will not cope without you. If your business model is like that, please revisit it. Do you have the right people working for you? If not, make it a prayer point this season that God will send you trustworthy people.

Similar to this is the fact that many of us can’t rest because we can’t delegate. ‘Nobody can do it as well as me’ is a mantra that will send you to an early grave.  Teaching and developing others is difficult but it can be rewarding with the right people.

Lack of planning is another culprit. Even God planned rest into His timetable; why don’t you? We need to make it a habit to plan and guard our time jealously – it is the only resource that is truly non-renewable.

In this age when getting ahead seems to be the God we worship; it is difficult to take a break because of the belief that we are losing money when we do. Finding time to rest is even worse now that many may have to work from home and may fail to delineate work time from other times. If one is not careful, one may fall into the trap of working throughout the day.

The time at home this season should be used wisely – plan it. Take time to rest – another year is around the corner and you will need your strength for the long haul of the next 365 days. The Lord has helped us through a difficult year; let’s appreciate Him by being obedient to His command to rest. Rest! Take time to focus on God for the new year. It will be a great one in Jesus’ name.

 If you are stopped by a traffic officer, you confidently hand over your license if it is requested. You are only afraid if it is a fake one obtained through questionable means. Your license is given by God and you deserve to use it if you have worked at the right time. You have a license to rest – use it without feeling guilty.

Have a blessed Christmas and a happy 2021.

I bi dem