Oftentimes we hear the word, break, and we associate it with there being something wrong or when we break from things, it is seen as a bad thing. However, there are times in our lives when we have to break from people, places, and things in order to gain our peace.
I found myself many times asking God for peace but it wasn’t until I took the time to retrace my steps in life and found out what was snatching my peace away.
For instance, I am a mom of three and my kids seem to think I am their personal Uber driver, celebrity chef, and concierge, but it’s because of all the things I was doing for them. I was praying and asking God for a break and God let me know I did not need His permission because all I had to do was give myself a break.
I started limiting my kids on the one-hundred million places they would go every week and narrowed that down to 10 or less, including their practices and weekends. Home cooked meals are now a luxury and not the norm, as I am on strike after having cooked meals every day for 13 years straight. I no longer pick up, fold up, or wash-up after my children, as they are all very capable of performing these duties for themselves. Now when I get off of work, I can catch a break and enjoy some peace and me time.
I also had to learn how to take a break from places. I love going to church and outside of the Word, it is the fellowshipping with others that really moves me, but I found myself in church so much I forgot what living was about. That may sound strange to some, especially coming from a minister, but I needed a break. Now don’t go telling your Pastors that I wrote that you needed a break from the church but what I am saying is, I was in church so much that I forgot to take time to enjoy anything else. Going to the park, enjoying a good movie, even visiting with family and friends had been something I just had not partaken in for a while. Once again, I found myself asking permission and God reminded me that He did not place a restriction on me nor a requirement for me to be at church as much as I was. I had to tell myself it was okay to take a break. I go to church but now I may not be at every single event, every night service, every weekday service, or services that are at other churches. In fact, this break has allowed me to see where I can be used by God in other places and I enjoy what I do for the homeless outside of the four walls of the church and it gives me peace.
Breaking from things was a bit of a challenge, but it was important for me to break from things that were stagnating my progress toward my purpose. The biggest thing I had to break from was fear. I had a fear of rejection. I did not want my writing to be rejected so I allowed my fear to put years between my vision of completing a book. Fear felt like it was stuck on me with Gorilla Glue and when I prayed to God to remove it, He just simply said, He didn’t put it there. There’s a saying that, “fear is not of God”, and that is so true. There are several scriptures that encourage not to fear including Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.” (MSG) I had to break from fear and now I have the peace of mind knowing that God is with me when I write and because He is my God my writing will be blessed and a blessing to others.
All this time I was screaming, give me a break when all I needed to do was actually take one. You can take one too. Take a break from the people, places, and things that are making you tired, taking up all your time, and causing you to miss your destiny. Stop asking God to give you a break from the many different tasks you keeping taking on for yourself. You do not need His permission because He did not put those things on you, so give yourself a break and get your peace back.
Meet the Contributor
Deborah Woolard is a single mother of three from Raleigh, NC and she currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She is an ordained & licensed minister and she serves as the Youth Director at R5 Church. Her love for writing, especially poetry is one of the many ways God allows her to use her gifts for His glory. Her poetry can be viewed at https://m.facebook.com/gracefullydsignedbydeborah/.