Sacred Rest

Our world moves so fast. Our days are filled with so many things that pull our attention in every direction - meetings, appointments, deadlines, phone calls, constant cell phone notifications, family, friends, kids, household tasks, the list is never ending. Sometimes it feels almost impossible to slow down and pause for a moment.

There is a slow, steep stretch of highway that I travel on frequently. Every time I am on this stretch of the highway my car feels like it is struggling and using so much power to make it up the hill. The engine keeps pushing and the car seems to be stuck between deciding which gear to be in. When this happens, I take my foot off the gas, slow down a little bit, and let the car shift into a lower gear. I am then able to make it up the hill. Maybe a little slower than I had hoped for, but my engine isn't burnt out upon reaching the top of the hill.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I do not know too much about cars, but while driving up the hill one day, it got me thinking... what if this is what God meant by slowing down and resting?

You see, when a car is working hard to go up a hill, it is more beneficial to slow down and let the car shift to a lower gear. In slowing down, it reduces the strain on the engine, which ultimately gives the car more power to make the steep climb. If you go too fast, the car will often stay stuck in a higher gear, because it is trying to have enough power to make it up the hill. You may feel the car slowing down even though your foot is on the gas, the engine may start to lag, and it can put more stress on the engine. In slowing down to allow for the car to be in a lower gear, the car is able to make it up the hill with less strain on the engine.

How many times does this happen in our lives? We are constantly busy, filling our schedules, trying to accomplish so much. We may not always realize it, but this constant push that we put on ourselves causes us to become burnt out, stressed, irritable, agitated, short-tempered... just to name a few. I have witnessed this in my own life - when I am too stressed with everything that is going on around me, I become short-tempered and irritable. The answer that I have found to this is sacred rest in God.

God tells us to rest. It is not something optional for Him - it is one of His commandments to us. I never really understood this and the impact it can have on our lives until recently. Resting in God wasn't something I practiced in my life. Sure, I would go for daily walks, I have been known to sleep in later than I would have liked to on the weekends, I have found myself watching cooking shows on TV for hours - but none of these things ever truly gave me rest. What I have recently discovered is that true rest for our souls comes from God. He commands us to rest so that we can spend time with Him. He wants us to slow down from our busy schedules, drown out the noises and distractions of this world, and just focus on Him. God even rested himself, so why wouldn't He want us to do the same? He worked for six days and on the seventh day He rested. He set aside time to have a sacred rest from all the work He had done.

As I have started to rest in Him more, I have actually found myself being more productive. I have more energy to do the things I need to do, and I do not feel burnt out or weighed down. I have even been waking up before my alarm now (even on the weekends - and I have never considered myself a morning person!). But what I am finding, is that I am actually enjoying the pace of a peaceful morning instead of sleeping in until the last possible minute and then feeling rushed as I run out the door. That feeling of peace continues throughout my day, instead of starting off the day feeling rushed and having that stress carry me through the day.

Slowing down and taking a pause to rest may seem counter-cultural, especially in the hustle and bustle society and mentality that we live in. But God wants us to rest, He wants us to set aside sacred time just for Him. When we honor this, we get to experience His peace, His presence, and His productivity, as He turns our rest into more power to keep going. Just as the car engine needs to slow down and shift to a lower gear to make it up the hill, we too need to slow down, pause, and rest in God so that we can have enough power to make it up the hill of our lives.

Journal Prompt - What are your thoughts on resting? Have you truly rested in God, allowing Him to rejuvenate your soul? What steps can you take to find sacred rest in Him? If resting for a whole day feels impossible or too foreign for you, that's ok, start small and try for a few hours. Ask God to help you trust in Him as you rest, and that in the sacred rest, He will give you the strength you need to keep moving forward.

"Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God's people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us then make every effort to enter rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

Prayers & Love Always

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