It is early morning, I’m sitting outside sipping coffee, reflecting on life, and embracing the new day. Relaxed and content I listen to the morning sounds of our holiday destination. It was a long stretch to get here, but now we can put our feet up and unwind. “For he who has once entered God’s rest also has ceased from the weariness and pain of human labours, just as God rested from those labours peculiarly His own.” – Hebrews 4:10
While enjoying the harmonious hums of the new day, I just realize again how quickly the perfect vacation can turn into a nightmare if you choose the wrong company to enjoy it with. Because the reality is that you get to know people in a different way if you go away with them. You get to learn their sleeping habits, morning routines, their eating habits, parenting patterns, their approach to hygiene, and their daily routines. You get to see most of their likes and dislikes in general, if they know how to read time, and sometimes you even get to see their crisis management methods. If it is a man/woman combination you get to see a little bit more about their relationship and how they truly treat each other. In a nutshell, you learn a lot about your fellow travelers’ character that you probably never noticed before. All of this on its own is not necessarily a problem. The difficulty begins if they do it totally different than you! You may soon end in a position where you would rather return home, instead of trying to figure out why they do things in a certain way.
In life there is no such things as a perfect personality; there are just compatible personalities, and incompatible ones. Some people you blend with well, while you tend to clash with others. And if you want to find out exactly how compatible you are, take a road trip with someone. And if you like a good challenge, make it a camping trip!
“He is the sole expression of the glory of God, and He is the perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.” – Hebrews 1:3
The same way you get to learn the true nature of a person when you go on vacation, you also get to know God’s character if you spend some relaxed quality time with Him! The same way our physical bodies need to take a break from time to time, our souls need to enter God’s rest. The only difference, is that your physical body can do with a three week rest period per year, while your spirit being need God 24/7.
Take some time this Festive Season to get to know God’s true character. Spend some quality time in His presence; talk to Him about things of lesser importance, and thank Him for all the small things in your life. Move your focus away from all your burdens, and enter His complete rest. Because only if you know His true character, will you be able to discern what is from Him and what is not from Him.
God is not only punishment and war, He does not always want to ‘teach us a lesson’ through a difficult life situation, and He is not the cause of all the sadness and pain in this world. He is love (John 3:16), mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is a good God (Psalm 145:9). He is a God of justice (Romans 12:19), and a God of peace (Psalm 29:11). He is patient and His timing is always perfect (Jeremiah 29:11). God is a reflection of the only perfect personality we will ever find. And He is a Father of compatibility, no matter what your personality type is!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8
The best pre-holiday advice I can give anyone, is to choose your travel companions according to your own personality. And remember to start each day knowing that God is already there, and knowing that He prepared this day for you to enjoy! Allow your physical body some rest this December, and treat your soul to some Godly pampering by spending time with our Saviour!
Be blessed, and rest well.
Yolandi
In life there is no such things as a perfect personality; there are just compatible personalities, and incompatible ones. Some people you blend with well, while you tend to clash with others. And if you want to find out exactly how compatible you are, take a road trip with someone. And if you like a good challenge, make it a camping trip!
“He is the sole expression of the glory of God, and He is the perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.” – Hebrews 1:3
The same way you get to learn the true nature of a person when you go on vacation, you also get to know God’s character if you spend some relaxed quality time with Him! The same way our physical bodies need to take a break from time to time, our souls need to enter God’s rest. The only difference, is that your physical body can do with a three week rest period per year, while your spirit being need God 24/7.
Take some time this Festive Season to get to know God’s true character. Spend some quality time in His presence; talk to Him about things of lesser importance, and thank Him for all the small things in your life. Move your focus away from all your burdens, and enter His complete rest. Because only if you know His true character, will you be able to discern what is from Him and what is not from Him.
God is not only punishment and war, He does not always want to ‘teach us a lesson’ through a difficult life situation, and He is not the cause of all the sadness and pain in this world. He is love (John 3:16), mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is a good God (Psalm 145:9). He is a God of justice (Romans 12:19), and a God of peace (Psalm 29:11). He is patient and His timing is always perfect (Jeremiah 29:11). God is a reflection of the only perfect personality we will ever find. And He is a Father of compatibility, no matter what your personality type is!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8
The best pre-holiday advice I can give anyone, is to choose your travel companions according to your own personality. And remember to start each day knowing that God is already there, and knowing that He prepared this day for you to enjoy! Allow your physical body some rest this December, and treat your soul to some Godly pampering by spending time with our Saviour!
Be blessed, and rest well.
Yolandi