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Tears and Tissues

By Rebekah Robb

I attend church faithfully, study my Bible daily, lead a weekly prayer group for moms and even teach a mid-week Bible study. After spending all that time studying the Bible and praying, you’d think I would feel spiritually strong like the apostle Paul, right? Wrong.

I felt empty, dried up and pulled in so many different directions I couldn’t see straight. I felt as though I had hit a wall. I was so exhausted, so strained, and so torn that I ended up in a pile of tears and tissues one Friday morning in front of my prayer group.

I had been studying the life of Gideon to teach the high school girls, I had been studying about prayer to help me lead the prayer group, and I had been studying the life of Christ to teach my children during family devotions, but I hadn’t spent time just sitting with my Lord. I was doing, doing, doing, and not communing with God.

It took a morning of tears in front of a group of women to wake me up. I hadn’t realized how tired and drained I was until that morning. Not only was it clear to me, but the women told me how worn out I looked. They prayed for rest and rejuvenation for me. They encouraged me to take a break from the prayer group. They tried comforting and giving advice, but I knew what I needed most of all: time alone with my heavenly Father.

I said good-bye to the women and curled up on the couch with a blanket and the book of Psalms. I drank in God’s goodness and rested in His faithfulness. I snuggled up to Him and heard His heart beat. This was what I needed. This was restoring my body and mind.

I sat in my Savior’s lap and poured my heart out to Him. He so patiently and loving listened and as I read part of His love letter to me, our intimacy grew. I received more strength than sleep or food could ever give.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.”

I sat my Bible down and thanked God for that promise.

When our lives start spinning out of control, we must stop and sit with our Lord. Then we will be strengthened for what lies ahead. I started my day empty and dried up and finished with energy and excitement for the future.

REBEKAH ROBB has three children—ages 13, 11, and 8. She writes weekly parenting tips for www.spotlightrichmond.com, leads a Moms In Touch group for six local public schools, and co-directs a monthly writer's group, Richmond Christians Who Write. Her articles have appeared in ParentLife, Fun For Kidz, Standard, Guide, Bible Express and Northwest Christian Authors.