Do you struggle to rest in the Lord?
Do you wonder, what does resting in the Lord even look like?
If you’re anything like me, you may hear the word ‘rest’ and think it means ‘laziness.’ I struggle with feeling like there is always something more I can and should be doing. I have thought countless times, “God will think I’m not being a good steward if I take a break,” and,“People will see me as a slacker.”
Can you relate?
Maybe you’re in a season of turmoil and you feel like your world is falling apart. Perhaps you are struggling with intense feelings of anxiety. Or maybe things just aren’t going the way you thought they would. No matter what specific circumstance you are facing, if you’re longing for the feeling of peace that surpasses all human understanding (Philippians 4:7), yet struggling to find rest for your soul, there’s something important you need to know:
Rest is more than taking an extra nap. It’s accessing an internal peace that knows God is sovereign and will work all of it out for your good and His glory.
How do you get in touch with that feeling of peace? There are two important things to remember that will help you weather the storm on the inside.
Remember that it’s for a reason.
When you finish work at end of day and you’re exhausted, you likely have no problem hitting the pillow for some shut eye. Well, what if you’re not exhausted? Does this mean you don’t need rest? Of course not. God uses the time of rest to PREPARE you for where you’re going next. If you only allow yourself to rest after something particularly tiring, you will likely run out of steam on your next high-stakes endeavor.
I learned this lesson all too well during my time on the high school track team. Just before the first race of the first meet of the season, my coach saw me heading out to goof off with my friends. And he told me to stay put and rest. I had to save my energy for the upcoming race, he explained.
I ignored his request and kept right on goofing off, running back and forth, flirting with the guys. When the time came for me to run my race, I lost steam halfway through. It felt like I was dragging a load of bricks. Coach was right. I wasn’t tired at the time when I was goofing off, but it kept me from preparing mentally for the upcoming race.
If God is calling you into a season of rest that you can’t seem to justify, it could be to prepare you for what’s coming next. Embrace it; you’re going to need it.
Remember that it’s just a season.
Whatever you’re going through right now is just a season. Don’t make it a state of mind. Resting in the Lord is not a passive way of saying that you’re ok with what you’re going through. Rather, it’s an active choice to trust God. Resting is active; laziness is avoidant.
What you will do in your season of rest? If you’re like me, you think that everything will fall apart and all of your hard work will be for naught. But if God tells us in Leviticus 25:19-22, “Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year.”
They were commanded to rest in the seventh year AND God gave them more than enough to sustain them through that time of rest. God not only gives us the gift of rest but he provides for it as well.
Something beautiful happens when we rest in Him. Our soul recharges and everything in us becomes healthy again.
Will you choose to receive the gift of rest today? Whatever you feel like you’ll miss out on, don’t worry, God will provide.
God covers His promises.
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