Sojourn

"...for the space of many days..."

I am an over-the-top motivated person. I have an internal drive to fix, change, and alter things I do that don't work. I mirror my mom in this aspect. We both have an impatient streak that calls us to make what I call "24 Hour Decisions." In other words, if something isn't working we tend to recognize the problem and come up with a split second (24 hour) solution that we immediately implement. We're, neither of us, very good at letting go or taking a break from our constant need to improve.

So where am I going with this? It all comes to a morning this week when I was reading the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 17. This is the chapter where Nephi begins to build a boat that will take him across to the promised land. After eight years in the wilderness the travelers arrived in the land Bountiful. Typically when I'm reading this story I mentally jump to the time when Nephi begins constructing the ship. This week, however, I got stopped by the fact that Nephi had been in Bountiful "for the space of many days" before he knew anything about building a ship. Pause a moment, or many moments.

The Lord knows the importance of rest.

All of my life I've rejected the imperfect moments. To use Nephi's terms, I've been trying to get out of the wilderness and to the promised land in the shortest amount of time possible. I suppose I am very afraid that if I pause to take a break the "wilderness" will never go away, that I'll permanently land in the wilderness. But, another interesting word: sojourn. Officially defined a temporary stay, I suppose we could expect that most of life will be spent sojourning in something. 

I love the Lord! He's planned everything so well! He never intended us to work nonstop, in fact, He's planned in some nice breaks, moments to rest. He's ready to give us that "space of many days" to enjoy the fact that we've achieved a lot, done a lot, and succeeded in so many things. He knows that we will be sojourning, and most trials, hardships, and needs for improvement are simply temporary. 

Take a break. Give yourself a rest. Give yourself a little extra credit for the things you've done. When it's time to move on, He'll let you know.

Wishing you all an amazing week! I love you!

- Esther :)