Return. Rest. Repeat.

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

Old Treasures on Tuesdays 👑

Forest Path

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength’” (Isa. 30:15, NKJV).

Have you experienced what I have? You’re having an amazing moment in worship. You are experiencing such a connection with God as you lift your heart up to Him. It’s glorious! Then


The next moment, you find your brain contemplating your lunch plans. Your mind just derailed from the third heaven to muse about a slice of pizza.

I know, it can be exasperating, can’t it??

Like me, you have two options here:

  • Kick yourself. Get irritated with your inability to stay focused in on such an important moment. Shake your head and give room to all the negative thoughts flooding in about what an unworthy Christian you are. Wonder how God puts up with you.

Or,

  • Simply, return. Refocus your mind on Him. Lift your heart back up to gazing at Him. Receive the waterfall of His grace washing over you. Redirect your mind’s eye to His beauty
 and continue worshipping freely.

God has generously given us the Biblical provision of “returning” (see today’s verse, above). We need to return frequently because life often distracts us from our focus on Him. All day long, constant stimuli battle for our attention. Again and again, it seems that run-of-the-mill events pull our minds away from intimacy with Him.

For someone who longs to learn to cultivate an awareness of His closeness, this can be disheartening. You know what? It’s okay! Just keep returning.

Returning will become a life-long habit for us, as we mature. The Psalmist knew this well. He used his self-talk to encourage himself in this direction: “Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (Ps. 116:7, NKJV). In other words, he was telling himself, “Your loving God has always waited for you with open arms! Jump back into His eager embrace!”

For some reason, this brings a blue fish named Dory to mind. She was onto something in Finding Nemo. Just substitute the word “returning” in her famous little jingle: “Just keep returning, just keep returning!”

The more you return, the more you learn to abide in Him. Again and again, return. Again and again, refocus. Slowly but surely, you will learn to spend greater and greater increments of your day aware of His closeness. Mind you, I said “slowly.” There is a lifetime of learning ahead for each of us in this area. The important thing is to keep at it.

“‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord All-Powerful” (Mal. 3:7, NCV).

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Extra tip: Speaking of growing in the disciple of focusing, I have something exciting to share with you!

I have recently discovered how much I absolutely love listening to audio Bibles. I tried one quite a few years back, and didn’t feel like it worked for me. Turns out, the problem was the particular narrator that did the recording. On a nudge from Holy Spirit, I tried again last month. This time, I’ve been profoundly struck by how helpful this exercise is to me. So much so, that I’ve been listening to the Bible every day since I started. I find that, listening to someone else read the Scriptures to me helps me focus in a unique way. It pulls my attention in, in a more immediate manner than when I read them myself.

I’d encourage you to try it out too! There are some great audio Bibles on Bible Gateway’s webpage, at this link: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/ . Or look for their audio Bible app in the app store 😊.

I figure — after all, Paul admonished the recipients of his epistles to make sure they were read orally to the churches! There’s something to this…

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Do you have any tips to share, that have helped you train your attention span for spiritual growth?

20 thoughts on “Return. Rest. Repeat.”

  1. Yes I can share from my own experience…I remember been a teenager and listening to one or two christian songs and saying out loud

    “I could never listen to this 24/7! ‘ as I would compare myself to other Christians i had met who would testify that they no longer listen to other music.

    For me that was too drastic, and I could not even imagine.

    But that was prior to all the pain and suffering that was to come.

    The more spiritual attacks , the more relief I sought

    I found relief in playing worship music.
    Within myself, still existed a spirit that had a needle that would intrinsically point toward E for empty on the world’s things….so after thirty minutes or a short time…my spirit would get agitated at the hearing of the worship music…..but came more suffering and pain..

    Eventually, I created a worship playlist that I keep on a USB thumb drive so nobody can interrupt the playlist and no ads. I would sleep to the playlist on repeat.

    Then wake up and do the same…eventually, this process, tool, and HUGE BLESSING, calibrated my needle to now intrinsically point to F for FULL OF WORSHIP AND PRAISE.

    all the glory to God.

    Worship is one gateway that keeps our spirits continuously connected to God.

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    1. Wow Ben, this blesses me so much. There is a spiritual son I’ve been praying for who has this same exact struggle you are describing, and can’t imagine wanting to just listen to music that edifies his relationship with God. I receive the encouragement God is giving me through your words, that He will teach him as He taught you. Thank you with all my heart for sharing your powerful testimony! The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy 🙂

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      1. Dear sister in Christ Jennifer,

        You are most welcome! How many times have I been blessed by the work, messages, experiences, and testimony God has given you?

        Many. And it continues.

        This speaks VOLUMES on the importance of us taking the time to visit other blogs of fellow believers – to encourage, learn, SHARE OUR TESTIMONY, take the time to leave comments- not only for the person’s blog, for all others to read and be blessed as well- all TO BRING GLORY TO GOD for what He has allowed us to see, witness, and go through.

        I won’t forget the invaluable advice you gave me one day- as I confided in you about how I struggled for years – how do I publish a book about faith to help others, and then in good conscience and faith charge for it? I can’t. God hasn’t charged me?

        And your reply was so wise, but garnished through YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE-

        allow me to share the blessing with others who may read this- Sister Arimborgo said:

        ‘i have found in my experience, that at times…people don’t value what is free…’

        And this is so true. Notice she said at times. So nobody get offended please. But it’s true. I myself have said many times- if they are giving it away, then it can’t be any good. Or what do you expect for a dollar?

        God indeed is the glorious free giver of diamonds, pure golden, for free. Always and every day. It’s is humans that don’t see the value in something FREE because all our lives , every single day we lived we have been CHARGED for everything. Every candy. Every loaf of bread. Every piece of clothing.

        Therefore, upon giving out a free book regardless of what it is- to some they will immediately toss it in the first garbage bin they come across.

        Anyhow this is just one example of how the works and life God has given you to live has blessed me. And your thousands miles away.

        Keep pressing on sister, more fire, more anointing OF THE HOLY SPIRIT over every aspect of your ministry and the ministries of GOD that he incorporates and integrates you into, this we pray in the might name of Christ Jesus Yahshua, amen.

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      2. My dear, dear brother, I wish you could see the biggest joyful smile you just put on my face with these wonderfully edifying, uplifting, and kind words of yours. You just made my evening! Amen and AMEN about the vital importance of encouraging each other in the Lord. What an exquisite privilege it is to be His body together and be a mutual blessing. May He pour out His abundant grace on you more and more too, with fire and power and glory!

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    1. That is SO cool that it works that way for you, too, Tammy! It really has made all the difference for me. I have learned that I am an audio learner, so I’m sure that has a lot to do with it as well. Thank you so much for sharing this, I am truly grateful. Many blessings to you!

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  3. There are certain things (people, ministries, issues) I try to pray for every day. If I can focus, it takes about an hour and a half. If I can’t, I will pray in whatever moments I have (and where I have the presence of mind to use those moments for prayer) throughout the day, sometimes finally finishing late at night. This was frustrating, until I realized it bears some resemblance to “praying without ceasing.” đŸ€· It’s comforting to know He created me and understands my struggles and still loves me.

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    1. This makes me smile with great fondness and affection, Annie. Reading your words, I feel the Father’s great pleasure in you. You delight HIs heart with your heart for Him! I love this insight that He gave you. Reminds me of the TPT’s rendering of that verse, “Make your life a prayer.”

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      1. That’s a strangely sweet coincidence, Jennifer. When I was in my songwriting phase, I wrote a song entitled “Make my Life a Song of Praise.” 🙂 ❀ ("Make My Life a Prayer to You" was already taken by Keith Green. 😉 )

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