Time to Rest
I’m sitting at the edge of the Pacific watching the waves roll in one after another. The sun glistens off the wave crests and ripples. The unceasing flow, peaceful and powerful all at once. My daughter wades into the cool waters like she has done throughout her life.
All is well.
The thing about the ocean is that even though it is peaceful, it demands your attention. Just get clobbered by a wave you didn’t pay attention to and you’ll know what I mean.
God has been teaching me about rest. He’s probably been teaching this lesson for a long time, but this past year drove the message home. Evidently the world had to shut down for me to realize that even though my life didn’t seem busy, there were still leagues of depths to go down to in order to find true rest and true peace.
The rest God’s been showing is this kind of deep and peaceful, yet moving rest. Actually moving from rest even as I get things done. Eyes on Him as the waves roll by, submerged in His peace. Learning to value doing nothing as much as doing work or serving others.
Shhh, Shhh, shhh… the waves roll in and out and in again. I keep thinking, “Could it really work? Could I do all God has for me to do and never strive? Never wear out? Never be holding on by a thread? Can I really let go of all of these mechanisms of control? All of the perfectionism and beating myself up?”
What if I could? What if you could?
We get to follow Jesus’ example. So what did he do?
Jesus slept through a storm that almost sank the boat He was sleeping in. He left crowds of clamoring people with real needs He could meet in order to go rest or pray. He took time to eat long meals with friends. He walked where he needed to go… which was slow.
We have been tricked into thinking our busyness can equate to holiness; that our serving somehow wins us love. God loves you completely right now, while you sit here reading. He is fully in love with you. You don’t have to do ANYTHING to earn more of his love. He offers us rest and peace if we’ll let Him join us. If we are willing to be yoked with Him.
So how do we actually move from rest? Ultimately it will be unique to each of us, but here are a few good places to start or grow into.
Sit with Him
Really sit still and invite God’s presence into your space, into your mind, into your body. Ask him to give you his peace. What does it feel like to sit with Him? What does He say or show you?
Meditate on a verse He gives you. Meditation is not a new age thing, it’s a powerful skill. Learning to silence your mind so you can focus on Him is the most powerful skill I know. If you’ve never done this, leave a comment and I can give you some resources.
Listen to your body
I love the mind and intellect, but sometimes it gets in the way. I believe our body is very connected to our spirit. Indicators show up in the body sometimes before the mind notices a problem. If you are frequently sick, fatigued, having digestive issues or other health problems, you are out of balance. This could be from being too busy or stressed out. It may come from unprocessed grief or emotions.
Ask your body what’s wrong and then LISTEN. I thought this was crazy until my body gave me all kinds of deep understanding. Much healing has come to me through listening to my body, listening to the pain it carries.
Ask God what is yours
If you get in the rhythm of asking God what you need to do in your day, the results may surprise you. Like you, I always have endless things that could be done, but when I ask Him for this moment, or this day, He always helps me keep the burden light. There’s balance and joy in the midst. Jesus created balance; He gave himself freely and also freely walked away to care for himself. He had beautiful boundaries that enabled him to be fully present all the time; for himself and for others.
Friend, we can live in God’s beautiful balance of rest and work! It’s worth finding this pathway, not only for ourselves but for every life we touch. We will all be the better for it.
I’d love to hear how you find this balance. Leave me a comment below. 🙂
Married to Chris. Mother to Sylvie and Juna. I cherish sunsets, love dark chocolate, relish the laughter of my daughters and shine because of the love of my husband. I live in joy because of the love of God for me!
- Moving from Rest – Wild Vibrancy with Nissa Prizzi - June 15, 2021
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