“God is a God of order, not of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), and as his created image-bearers, we glorify him—and feel much happier—when we live regular, orderly lives. He made our world and us in such a way that we flourish when our lives are characterized by a basic rhythm and regularity.” David Murray, Reset p. 133
This book was refreshing to my soul! I’m excited to read David Murray’s wife’s book as well on this same topic of resetting. Once you have decided enough is enough…you are ready to dive into this. If you don’t get to that point, it’s likely that the circumstances of life will drive you to that point. The Lord will get your attention if you have strayed too far down the path away from Him. Reset is a great book for anyone. It probably fits men a little easier with the garage analogies, but the Scriptural truth is applicable to both genders and people of any age. I’m grateful that I’ve already walked through many of the resets that Murray mentions…and excited to study some new strategies as well!
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…
- Acts 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, (ESV) p. 49
- Studies show that a lack of sleep depletes and weakens the brain’s self-control center, leading to higher levels of unethical behavior. p. 60
- Matthew 6:25–27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (ESV) p. 65
- Psalm 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. (ESV) p. 65
- Psalm 3:5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. (ESV) p. 65
- Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (ESV) p. 65
- When and how long we sleep makes a huge statement about who we are and what we believe about ourselves and God. p. 67
- “A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1998, p. 88 p. 82
- “Without great solitude no serious work is possible.” Pablo Picasso p. 93
- To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, “All our miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone [with God].” We’d like it to be different. But as Psalm 46 confirms, God has inseparably and irrevocably joined quietness with knowledge of him. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. p. 95
- “Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence, or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as Vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets.” Tim Kreider, The Busy Trap article p. 103
- God is a God of order, not of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), and as his created image-bearers, we glorify him—and feel much happier—when we live regular, orderly lives. He made our world and us in such a way that we flourish when our lives are characterized by a basic rhythm and regularity. p. 133
- “Staying NO is not just a good idea—it has now become a mathematical necessity. Without this two-letter word, I doubt that regaining margin is possible. If there are fifteen good things to do today and you can only do ten of them, you will need to say NO five times. This is not rocket science but kindergarten logic.” Richard Swenson, Margin p. 139
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. p. 142
- A grace-paced life doesn’t reject any of God’s graces if they are needed. p. 149
- “Whatever we focus our hearts on first in the morning will shape our entire day.” Tony Reinke, “Six Wrong Reasons to Check your Phone in the Monring: And a Better Way Forward” p. 159
- 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. p. 176
- “the Bible is not only what we read, but what we read with. We read all knowledge through the lens of the Bible because it is sufficient to keep us from falling into error as we read the truth God has placed in this world.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 183
- “The most stressful seasons in my life climax in a moment when I realize I can’t do it all. I am reminded of my human finiteness and fallibility. Instead of losing my breath in anxiety, I should be able to breathe a deep sigh of relief. I can’t do it all, but I don’t have to. I am not enough, but Christ is. If the Creator of the universe loves me enough to die and take away all my ugly sin, then he cares about the pressures of life that bear down on me daily.” Elizabeth Moyer, “What is a Biblical Response to Stress?” (2016) p. 186
- The mini resurrection we’ve experience here has given us a taste of the ultimate resurrection ahead, when every ache and pain, and every cry and depression, and every loss and weakness will be no more. It has also slowed our pace enough to allow us the time and space to look ahead and enjoy that view, to anticipate that final destination, where we will experience that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed” (Romans 8:18). A grace-paced life transports us into a grace- and glory-filled eternity. p. 191
- 2 Timothy 4:7-8 Let’s run so that we may obtain the price, the prize of all things new. p. 191