As school has started back up and you all are settling into the routine for this new school year, life starts to kinda blend together some days. Wake up, get ready, go to school, do XYZ activity or sport, do homework, go to bed, and then rinse and repeat the next day. Life becomes mundane and oftentimes we forget why we are even doing the things we do. Life is just busy and even the things we enjoy and we do to relax, become just another thing.

“Add it to the list of things I have to do” 

“I’m too busy to even think about that”

“I’m too tired today” 

“Maybe some other time”

Maybe you don’t say those exact things but I’m sure you’ve all had similar thoughts, and so do I and so does everyone else. Life can get so overwhelming even with the “good” things that we lose sight of why we are even doing them in the first place. At a certain point it starts to all just feel heavy and we get burnt out. We start getting frustrated even with the people we love and care about because they too become a task on the long list of tasks we already have. 

God often talks about burdens and heaviness throughout the Bible, but this isn’t his design for us. He wants us to live a full life. A life more than just day to day and a life more than just “busy”. He wants us to live life abundantly (John 10:10). Abundantly living means being intentional with everything we do. It means the opposite of that auto pilot we tend to find ourselves in. It means to live joyfully in everything we are doing, even the things we don’t want to do but have to.

The Bible also talks about rest quite a bit, and finding rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30). What does that have to do with living life abundantly though?

Oftentimes we find ourselves trying to live so abundantly that we end up losing sight of why we are doing what we do. We do so many things for so long that the abundance we felt at first becomes feeling overwhelmed real quickly. Yet, we know that we need to live abundantly so we just keep pushing through trying to ignore the fact that we aren’t even joyful anymore.

God knew that we couldn’t just keep trucking on forever and he knew that there were times we would need to slow down and refocus. He calls us to rest in him and to take time to rest and recharge.

He knows you are tired. He knows you are anxious, and he knows you want to just keep fighting through, but he also knows that we need to slow down and be refilled.

What does resting in Him even mean or look like? 

Well there are a few things that we all can and should do to slow down. We have already talked about prayer and reading, and many of us know these as “the right answer” to how to rest in him. How often do we view it as rest though? How often do we truly take time away from distractions to read God’s word and pray? And when we do, do we actually think it will recharge us?

Reading, praying, and taking time alone with God is very important and if we actually do that as rest, and to recharge, it certainly will help. However, that isn’t my main point today. God also wants us to do things that we enjoy and that are peaceful. He made us each the way we are for a reason and he doesn’t want us to have to give up the things that we find fun and relaxing. He wants us to take time among all the busyness and among all the “go go go” of life to stop, breath, and recharge so that we can go back to life ready and joyful.

It looks different for everyone where you might find rest. Start by asking yourself what you enjoy doing that is peaceful. Maybe you like going on a walk, reading a book, or listening to music without doing anything else. Maybe you enjoy doing a craft, building something, or maybe you enjoy just sitting talking to friends or playing a board game with your family.

For me, I enjoy walking or doing a puzzle (yes I am an old man). No tiktok, no youtube, no music just slowing down and not having anything else going on. 

One final note, the point of rest and recharging is so that we can go back into life more full. To be more joyful and energetic. It is not meant to be what we do all the time; that becomes laziness after a while. Only you and God know your heart in it and know when you need rest and when maybe you’ve had too much and are just sitting at home watching TV.

This also shouldn’t just be something fun that is “distracting” from life rather than recharging. An example for me would be playing video games. It is something I enjoy and it is something that is not physically or mentally exerting, however, it also doesn’t really serve to give me rest or to make me feel more ready to go back to the craziness of life. It more just temporarily distracts from whatever else is going on.

Challenge

This week find three separate times where you are able to stop and do something peaceful that brings you joy. Something that by the end of it you feel more rested and peaceful. It could be something from the list above or whatever else that is peaceful and restful to you.

Record what you did and why.

There is no time limit for this challenge. It could be 10 minutes. It could be several hours. whatever you are capable of. Just whatever time you take, make it count. Don’t do it just to check off a box or to say you did the challenge. Truly let yourself slow down and rest.