Rest for Your Busy Mind, Mama

Tonight we will talk about what to do to when you struggle to rest your busy mind, mama. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A question for you mamas. What is interfering with your ability to rest right now? We're gonna talk about that tonight on Midlight Mamas. Tonight I was thinking about this question. What is interfering with your ability to rest right now, mamas? And I do realize that you are in the midst of taking care of babies and families, and you may be up with a baby, or you might just be heading back to sleep after taking care of one, or perhaps you're just awake because you just can't sleep tonight as a mama. And I was thinking, what is it that steals our rest? And I mean our rest that comes from worry, or where something threatens to take our mind down a rabbit hole that we have a hard time returning from. Sometimes it's our health, sometimes it's finances or relationship stuff, details, but there are many unknowns that can keep us worrying. But there's a verse that says, I lay down and slept, I awoke, for the Lord sustains me, and that is found in Psalm 3 and verse 5. And I find this particular verse very soothing because it reminds us that the Lord is the one who allows us to sleep and wake up and start again, because He holds it all, and He not only does that, but He sustains us. So I looked up the definition of sustain and what it means, and it means to keep something going over time, to support, uphold, nourish, or maintain it, so it doesn't collapse, fade, or run out. Is that not beautiful for us as mamas? That the Lord sustains us and that means that He supports us and nourishes us and keeps us from collapsing. It also has the core meaning of to keep alive or in existence, so to provide what is needed for continued life or function, such as food or rest, strength and resources. I think this is very encouraging for us, mamas, because we understand that we can't do it on our own. We can try, but God is the one who does this. He upholds us, he keeps us from collapsing, he provides what we need for life and endurance. And that is such a helpful reminder to us tonight, isn't it, Mamas? In addition to Psalm 35, I want to share with you Psalm 5522, and it says, Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. And David wrote this while he was feeling betrayed and overwhelmed and anxious, and the word sustain here really does mean that God will support and uphold and keep you when the weight feels too heavy. And the invitation is active, cast, throw or roll or hand over your cares, which we've talked about before. You don't have to keep carrying them alone. And mama, in the middle of the night, this is the quiet permission to say, Lord, this load is yours now. Hold me while I hold this baby. And I want to go a little deeper now into Psalm 3 and verse 5, which I shared at the beginning. And it says, I lie down and sleep, I awake again because the Lord sustains me. David is on the run here. He's surrounded by enemies in this chapter, and he can't sleep. The sustaining in this chapter isn't a dramatic rescue in the moment. It's the quiet, ongoing strength that lets him rest and wake up, still held by God. For us, Mamas, this one lands in a real and soft place with us because even when our sleep is broken and short, the Lord is the reason you can close your eyes at all and rise up again. Isaiah 40, verses 29 through 31, they're beautiful. They say, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. In this chapter and in this verse, God doesn't just cheer from the sidelines, he gives strength to the one who has none left. Notice the progression of the verse, soaring, those rare moments of lifting above the hard, running, like on the busy days, and walking the ordinary slow and faithful steps through the night feeds and the long afternoons. So you see, Mamas, there's hope in the waiting of the Lord. It's not about mastering more effort, it's about exchanging our emptiness for his fullness. And the last verse I want to share with you is Psalm 54 in verse 4, and it says, Surely God is my help. The Lord is the one who sustains me. This is David under pressure and under threat, and here he is declaring that God is both the helper and the sustainer of his life. And Mama, he is the sustainer of your life and your baby's life. So I asked you earlier tonight when we first started, the question was, what is interfering with your ability to rest right now? Because, Mamas, I know that some of it's physical, but I also know that some of it is in our emotions and in our mental states. And I think about how in our life there are so many unknowns that will happen. And there are times where the rug will be pulled right out from underneath us, where we could just lay and worry when none of those things have happened. No rug has been pulled out, but we worry that it will. And I think about those are the things that can steal our rest, the things that we can't control. But here's the key we can trust. So you can rest your mind and your body in the hands of the one who has the power to sustain you, like we have learned about tonight in these verses. Because remember, he is holding your life and your soul, and he exchanges your weariness for strength, and he keeps you through the night so you can rest and then rise again, and he invites you to hand over those heavy things. Mama, I know because I have been up with it in the middle of the night where things just felt so heavy upon my heart and my mind, and at times I felt almost hopeless, and then I remembered I don't need to be hopeless. The Lord God is with me, and even if I can't seem to rest my busy mind, the Lord can help me to do that. So tonight I want to pray for you, mama, if this is you, that the Lord will help to bring rest to your busy mind. So let's pray. God, I thank you for these mamas. Lord, I ask for the mama who is weary and can't find rest, and it's not just physical, but it's mental as well. And God, I ask that you would give her rest for her busy mind. And Lord, that you would quiet her down and you would remind her of who you are, and Lord, that you would show up in her life and in her thoughts and in her dailies, and God, you would be present with her, give her strength, and remind her that she is doing a phenomenal job because she is doing what you have called her to do, and she's not doing it alone. She is doing it with the help of the God who created her and her baby. Thank you, God. Amen. Mamas, I thank you for joining me tonight. And before we go, I want to pray a blessing over you. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. Be gracious unto you and give you peace. Amen. Until next time, Mamas, just remember to rest that busy mind, and we'll talk again soon.