Work of Rest
The subversive nature of rest as an activity, not a passivity
Often when we hear rest we jump straight to the idea of doing nothing. Certainly there is element of that. But truly there is a great freedom in realizing that rest takes work.
I hear time and again the confessions of guilt when it comes to the theme of rest. Especially as Christ-followers, we hear the call of the Scriptures to Sabbath, to stop our work. What often ensues is an onslaught of shame messages and guilt-laced excuses.
“I know I need to rest but I just can’t.”
“I’ve tried to stop working so much, but don’t you know what how much I have to get done?”
”If I don’t do it, no one else will! It will all fall apart!”
”I’ve tried to rest and it feels unnatural. I’ve got to stay busy.”
The list goes on. Fill in your own excuses for failing to rest. Then, fill in your own contempt at yourself for failing to rest. That’s where the real battle often lies. It’s in that place where we begin to acknowledge we know we need rest, we know God calls us to rest, but our reluctance to do it is met with the shame stories fed by the evil one to keep you in a cycle of neglecting your own self.
My goal in these posts on rest aren’t to feed that contempt cycle. It’s to give hope. Because I know the cycle all to well.
This last week alone I had two other trusted pastors ask me, “When is your off day again?” They both asked with a cocked smile as if to note clearly I wasn’t taking it this week.
So as a fellow struggler, let’s grab hold of some hope together and consider the work of rest in a few key ways.
Rest takes work to be able to rest.
Very simply rest is so hard because we often think there’s more to do. Just get used to the idea that there’s always more to do. That doesn’t mean you don’t need quality rest. The Sabbath principle of the created order and the command of the Sabbath given in the Ten Commandments is that we are to work six days and refrain from our work on one out of seven days. This principle is part of your DNA as a image-bearer, created by God. It’s human. You aren’t above this, nor am I. But this rhythm means to embrace our Sabbath rhythms we need to intentionally map out what work, what tasks, what responsibilities need to be tended to so that we can actually Sabbath rest. This takes having some sort of organization patterns in your life to know what needs to be done.
Rest takes work to be able to rest.
Deja vu? No, I meant what I said…again. To truly rest it takes work in the moment as much as the moments that lead up to rest. It is work, or effort to let your body, mind and soul rest. It means being thoughtful, intentional and proactive to engage in activities that truly bring body, mind and soul rest. This means protecting time for a nap, protecting time for a walk in nature, for journaling, for prayer, for meditation, etc. Rest is an activity, not a passivity. It takes effort to rest. That’s the subversive nature of it. It’s not just doing nothing. Of course, I would say sometimes you intentional activity is to plan doing nothing. But I think it’s a fool’s errand to truly do nothing. What I mean by that is that even in the absence of other activities, your mind is still super active. So in “doing nothing” you are seeking instead to do something intentionally…stop your typical work.
Rest is hard for most of us nowadays with the technological advances that keep us connected to so much of the world at any given time. That’s why it takes that much more work to rest than ever before.
Yet, it’s good work to rest. Share ideas that have helped you to get real rest!
Let’s get to work on getting rest this week!