Rest almost seems like a foreign practice today. Our schedules are packed with commitments and activities, but we just keep adding to them. We seem to be addicted to busy.
When do we stop? Do we even dare stop? Will the world leave us behind if we cease for five minutes straight?
We fall into our beds, already planning the next days activities.
When we get caught sitting for a moment, we become apologetic. Shame on us – we might wear the couch out! When we get seen enjoying the quietness of a still evening or the splendor of nature, we almost feel guilty. If we dare sit in the chairs on our porches, just watching the birds wake in the morning sun, we start wondering what we should be doing instead.
If we sit too long with someone and no one speaks, we busy ourselves with social media, or feel the need to embark on a mindless venture of chitter-chatter.
We are tired.
We are weary.
We need rest.
We don’t need excuses to rest. We just need rest.
However, humankind finds the need to feel invincible. So, enter busyness.
The busier we are, the more important we feel. The more we have to do, the more accomplished we feel.
Until we don’t.
And that’s when we fall apart. We fall apart because we have busied ourselves right out of the rest God has designed for us and participated in Himself. Have we disregarded His urgings to recenter on Him? Have we become deaf to the call of rejuvenation for our souls? Have we become disobedient in our busied ways?
Our God endorses rest. He has set principles for rest. We are given the promise that entering His rest still stands today. (Hebrews 4:1)
Continuing in a pattern of disobedient busyness that resembles the actions of decapitated poultry, we will never enter His rest. (Hebrews 4:3)
However, we have a merciful God,
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later He spoke through David, as was said before: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
(Hebrews 4:7)
Do you hear His voice today? Is He gently nudging you to spend more time with Him? Is He asking you to remove anything from your life in order to recenter on Him? An activity? Children’s activities? Letting that third or fourth job go and just trusting Him to take care of it all? Fasting from a meal once a week to devote to prayer?
Is there a call for margin in your life to allow God to strengthen you by resting in Him?
If you are old fashioned like me, you have one day a week that is strictly for resting. Our family goes to church on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoons we all take naps. Sunday evenings we are at home playing board games with the family, just enjoying each others company. We purposely make no plans for that evening, resting for the week to come and usually indulging in early bedtimes.
We thrive well and shamelessly in our Sabbath day resting.
But resting isn’t just for one day of the week. Sometimes we need rest on the six days inbetween. Sabbath-rest can be enjoyed on any of those days, too. God doesn’t just show up on Sunday to revive us.
He is the very present God, whom we can call upon and rest in any moment of our days.
There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest,”
(Hebrews 4:9-11)
What are you needing to rest from today? Cease all activity, even if for just 10 minutes. That laundry can wait. That Facebook notification can wait. That blog post doesn’t have to be pounded out to perfection today.
Those can wait. Resting in Him should not.
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Kaylene, I love this post and also your awesome bio. Resting in the Lord is essential to the rejuvenation of our souls and I’m thankful for your words here! We also usually do Sabbath resting on Sundays but there are times when it happens throughout the week as well. I love your words here!
Thank you, Holly! Sundays have always held this setting for both my husband and I and we love it! Sabbath-rest has been a newer concept to me, but has become essential. About the bio, spell check says “spunkiness” isn’t a word. Who plays by the rules of grammer, anyway?!! Thank you for reading! I appreciate you!
Beautiful reminder, Kaylene! I’m often guilty of not resting when I need to. It took a month of illness around Christmas time this year to remind me of this truth. 🙂
Oh, my Jen. I trust you are back to healthy! Sometimes a forced rest (sickness, injury etc) can be annoying, but when I try to set it as an opportunity to rest in Him, I get a bit more tolerant of the situation. Thank you for reading, friend!
Amen! I had a health issue for a little over a month, I Praise God for it! What a blessing to rest and trust in the Lord, I have struggled in the past with how “busy” this life gets. Very refreshing to get a different perspective on our time spent in our earthly home that the Lord has blessed us with. We are servants of the Lord not our earthly houses and etc…. Blessings and thanks for sharing 🙂
Ruby, thanking God with you for continued healing! Right now we are fighting a round of sickness, and have had to cancel a few engagements. I don’t think any of us missed them. 🙂 A forced rest, being sick, can really get us to consider what is mandatory in life. Blessings, friend!
So, I’m 50 years old, and I’m just now beginning to understand how much I need rest–a Sabbath rest. Yes, I’m a slow learner. Thanks for the reminder, because it is so easy to let a chore here and there sneak into my Sunday. I’m not going to be legalistic about the whole thing, but those chores that sneak in can usually wait until Monday. 🙂 Blessings to you!
It IS easy to let a chore slip on here & there, isn’t it? If it happens, it happens! Personally, I don’t like waking up Monday morn to a sink full of dishes! 🙂 Now, washing my windows? No, that doesn’t bring me Sabbath-rest! But, might someone else. You bring out a wonderful point that being legalistic about it shouldn’t happen either. I so agree you. We can easily take some things to extreme, when we apply too many human rules. Thank you for your sweet words, Leah!
Oh, yes, I needed to read this today. I’m terrible about resting. I’m about ready to walk out my door though, in just a couple of minutes, to take a restful walk with my dog while the rain has ceased. : ) Thank you for the little nudge.
Walks can be so restful! Rest well! 🙂 thank you for reading, Dawn. I appreciate you!
Kaylene, I loved this timely reminder to slow down and rest. I have so much on my plate these days between motherhood, a home renovation, being a wife, working through a fitness program, and writing/speaking deadlines. Just the other day I was feeling cranky and overwhelmed. That’s what happens to me when I’ve loaded too much on my plate. I get cranky and start snapping at my kids or my hubby. Not a good thing. I need to remember to take time for myself, too.
Rosann, I hear what your saying! Sometimes full lives can’t be avoided. Praying He will reveal moments of rest for you throughout your days. Blessings!
So very true! I find myself feeling guilty for resting if everything is not in order, and everything is NEVER in order. Thank you for this reminder. It is a blessing to our health as well as a spiritual blessing. And there is nothing like a Sunday nap…
Hello Jes! Yes, it can be so hard to stop doing and going. For myself, keeping up with the Joneses is such a Sabbeth-rest stealer. There’s no shame in saying ‘no’ and creating margin in our lives so we can find rest both physically and spiritually. Thank you for reading! Blessings to your rest!
Ah Kaylene God has been speaking the word rest into my heart for the last couple of weeks and earlier this week I really felt him tell me that I need to seek a sabbath – this speaks straight into my heart from the heart of God – thank you for sharing and bless you 🙂
So glad this spoke to you, Tania. Keep seeking His will and obeying His call. He will show you where and what needs to be let go of or stopped. Rest well!
“God doesn’t just show up on Sunday to revive us.” Amen! This week God has been hammering home the theme of resting in Him. I think he’s trying to tell me something… It’s a blessing to connect with you via Grace & Truth LInkup and read this much needed reminder today, Kaylene! God bless,Tina
I am such a type A person that I gave to always be on guard against constant business. Thank you for this much needed encouragement.
Beautiful words of truth, Kaylene. Love how you slip your humor into your posts. 🙂 I laughed out loud at the poultry analogy.
Thanks for the timely reminder, and looking forward to reading more of you on STC!