Invest in Rest

As many of my readers know, I am a college student. I'm about to enter my junior year here in a couple of weeks. Following the end of last semester, I found myself facing the worst sense of burnout I've ever experienced. During the last couple of months of school, it seemed like I was drowning in to-dos and struggling to come up for air. I had back-to-back performances, papers to write, books to read, events to plan, tests to study for, and simply never enough time in the day. My brain was always on go mode, and I couldn't seem to find the off switch. I remember one day I was explaining how stressed I was to a friend and their response was simple. They asked me a very important question, "So, when do you make time to rest?" All I could say was, "I don't."

This opened my eyes to a very serious issue I had in my life and my heart. I had lost sight of my top priority and became a slave to the tasks in my life. To be honest, I had made an idol out of school and my desire for success. You may try to come to my defense by saying, "No! You're just a hard worker and that's honorable to God." While, yes, I was working hard, the meditations of my heart weren't often on God. God wasn't really my number one in my mind. He was something I'd get to whenever I finished all the other tasks laying across my desk. While I do believe I gave God the glory at the end of my successes, I lost God somewhere along the way. I can honestly say this is to blame for the severe level of burnout I was facing at the time.

I have always been terrible at rest, and I think part of the reason for that is that I never really knew what it meant. I always attributed "rest" to physically sleeping, binge-watching tv-shows, playing video games, scrolling through social media, etc. However, the kind of rest God desires for us is one that fills our cup and restores our peace. Oftentimes, this looks more like going for a walk in nature, spending time in quiet prayer, journaling, worshipping, being in fellowship with other believers, etc. A lot of these things actually require our brains or bodies to be active but can prove to be more restful than sleep. I find it very interesting that these methods of "rest" are very similar to what psychologists often recommend to patients dealing with anxiety and depression. Exhaustion often plays a huge role in battling both these mental illnesses. I believe Americans' mental health problems have skyrocketed because we live in a culture that frowns upon rest. How could this culture possibly be sustainable when it goes against God's biblical design?

Rest is so important to God that He even puts it in the Ten Commandments. In Exodus, the 4th commandment is "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”. Not only does God purposefully put it in there, but He goes to the extent of putting it before adultery, murder, and stealing. Most of us would never think about committing adultery or murdering someone, but we are breaking a commandment every day by not resting. When God created the world, He chose to rest. We know that an all-powerful God doesn't truly need rest, because well... He's all-powerful. I truly believe that God includes that account in our Bibles to show us the importance of it. We get so lost trying to live up to God's standards that we forget that rest is included and encouraged in those standards. To honor God and uphold this commandment, we have to build into our daily rhythms time to rest and remind ourselves of the goodness of God. In fact, sometimes the greatest thing you can do for your future is rest in your present. More specifically, rest in HIS presence. For some of you, the most honorable and worshipful thing you can do for God today is to rest. Whatever that looks like for you. Maybe you're thinking, I just don't have time. Here's a hard lesson I had to learn and still need to remind myself of often: If you're too busy to spend time with God, you're too busy. Period. Plain and simple.

When we don't learn to rest in the presence of God, we will often miss when He is calling our name. In 1 Kings 19: 9-13, we read of Elijah's encounter with God after he flees to the wilderness. The Lord calls out to Elijah in a soft whisper. While Elijah is hiding in a cave, God calls to him and asks, "What are you doing here?" He then, calls Elijah out and into His presence. God brings intense winds, earthquakes, and fires, but His presence isn’t seen in any of those mighty things. After the fire, the Lord calls to Elijah again in a soft whisper and asks, "What are you doing here?" Often, we think God’s voice will disrupt our busyness in an obvious way. However, sometimes He deliberately whispers to us to force us to slow down, silence the noise around us, and find the source of that faint call.

For some of us right now, we are Elijah. We have been running away from our problems, we have been so busy, and we've found ourselves stranded in the wilderness wondering how we got there. The fact of the matter is, when we are distracted from God, the things we value most will slip away from us. Our blessings will no longer feel like blessings, but rather that one thing that tips our scale. They will turn into that one extra to-do that sends you over the edge. We end up pushing away the things that we value most because the wilderness we are in is just too much. We will start asking God to take us out of our relationships, our jobs, our schools, our friendships, etc because we've neglected rest for so long that even our blessings appear strenuous. However, the story doesn't end there for Elijah. God shows up for Him and instructs him just as He can for you today. God asks Elijah, "What are you doing here?" But sometimes what He really means is, how long will you run from my voice? How long will you run away from the gift of rest I have given you?

It's no secret that the greatest attacks we will face will always be when we are exhausted. The enemy isn't coming after us when we are feeling unstoppable and energized. He's coming after us when we are tired. This can be so dangerous because when you're tired you want to give up. The fact is, there are a lot of people reading this right now that are in desperate need of rest. Some of us are so exhausted that we can't even focus or remember the calling that we started pursuing. Well, I'm here to tell you this: The only cure for your exhaustion is intimacy with Jesus. His response to those who are tired and troubled is three words: "Come to Me". “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). Maybe you think you don't "qualify" for rest because you don't have a "heavy" enough burden. Allow me to clarify that a heavy burden is anything that is robbing you of your peace. It doesn't have to meet a certain specification. If you are lacking peace, if you are lacking rest, the Father's arms are open for you.

So, I don't know who needs to hear this, but rest is not a reward. Rest is not something that you need to earn. You need rest, and you’ve been given rest. An all-powerful God demonstrated it so perfectly when He crafted the world. God rested on the seventh day of creation, not because He needed it, but because He knew we would. God deemed us worthy of rest simply because we are His, and He knows His creation. We don't read any accounts in the Bible that say God regretted the time He spent resting, so why would we interrupt the peace God graciously grants us by feeling guilty for resting in intimacy with Him?

May your roots run deep, and your faith remain strong. As always, Stay Rooted, my friends! <3