Are you tired? Worn out? How about rest?
We live in a world completely opposed to rest.
Hurry.
Rush.
Get it done.
Do more.
Productivity is god.
Performance is key.
These are the mantras of our Western culture. In the Old West if you weren’t taking care of your horse you’d say it was “rode hard and put up wet.” This saying means that the horse was not properly cared for after having been ridden for a long time. Most people would never mistreat an animal like this. But we do it to ourselves all the time.
We are so conditioned to work all the time we often don’t want to mention when we are resting for fear of being judged. Or we feel guilty when we rest and feel like we have to justify our resting. We sacrifice our mental, spiritual, and physical health on the altar of hurried living. We hold “rest” out in front of ourselves like a dangling carrot. We whip ourselves to keep going at this breakneck speed trying to convince ourselves we can rest if we get this or that done first.
How did we get into this unhealthy vortex?
Why are we choosing to stay here?
We don’t have to, you know?
We get options.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace, I won’t lay netting heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. ”
From the very beginning, God rested. He created the world and on the seventh day, He rested. Man was created on the 6th day and his first full day on the earth was that day of rest. Man started from rest. He didn’t have to do anything to earn his rest.
“However gentle in appearance, rest is no small thing. Rest calls forth worship, play, and liberation. Rest reacquaints us with our souls, environment, and our relationships. Rest enables us to thrive amid crisis, forcing our resistance against the constant and cruel patterns of oppression and overproduction that dominate our world.” Toward Rest
Fear of missing out is one of the tactics the enemy likes to use with us. We will keep going and maxing out our schedules because we don’t want to miss out. But the reality is we are really missing out, only we don’t realize it. Because we aren’t choosing rest we are missing out on the best health we can have. There are so many physical problems we have because we expect our bodies to do what they were never created to do.
By choosing slower living we can take the time we need to develop our relationship with the Lord. We want more but we are settling for less by rushing around chasing unfulfilling pursuits that are nothing more than cotton-candy to our starving hearts.
A bigger reach won’t suffice.
Another accolade won’t fill the void.
More money isn’t going to help what needs helping.
Rest helps. It really does. When we slow down we become more aware of everything around us. At a rested pace, we start to see what helps us. Maybe we needed more sleep. And when we sleep our body has time to recover. Or maybe we notice we have been far too uptight and we need to laugh. I personally have noticed that I tend to hold my breath when I am living at too fast a pace and when I slow down I begin to breathe longer and deeper. (I also have learned to pray breath prayers when I am in this tension)
When we are resting we can see the situations where we may have been pushing the situations forward in a need to try and control. If we are scared about a circumstance we may be rushing around trying to control and manipulate to try and achieve the outcome we think is best. But from rest, we are choosing to trust the direction of the Lord.
And most importantly it is in our rest when we can draw near to our good Father and get the love and encouragement that we truly need. Thank God, this need will never be met by anyone or anything else. This is grace.
Our bodies need rest.
Our minds need rest.
Our hearts need rest.
Why do we resist?
I often hear people come from a defeated position and say “Well there is nothing I can do about it. This is just where we are now.” This is just not true friends. If someone in your family became sick and needed hospitalization every single thing in your life would come to a screeching halt as you navigated that situation. You probably would not even think about those obligations on your calendar. Those things that are driving your life one minute you would not even consider the next. So why are we letting those events rule our lives?
You are empowered today. How can you choose rest? What are you going to cancel on your schedule this week to make space for rest? How can you position your family for time to slow down and spend some time recovering from the busyness of life?
God loves to help us rest. He knows how vitally important it is. Ask Him for help.
“Father, thank you that you care about our rest. As I look at my busy life I am not even sure how to make changes to prioritize rest. But You see a bigger picture. I want to see the way You do. Help me. Guide me. I lay my schedule at your feet and ask you to be the Lord over my life. I want to prioritize the things that truly are important. Open my ears to hear You clearly and give me the courage I need to live counter-culturally if that is what I need to do. Amen.”
