Remember To Rest
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” - Psalm 46:10
A few years ago, my friend Lindsay and I went on a two-week road trip along the east coast. We drove from Atlanta all the way to Portland, Maine, and then all the way back down. It was quite an adventure!
Our first stretch of the trip was from Atlanta to Washington D.C., which should have taken a little over nine hours according to the Maps app on my phone. However, it ended up taking us closer to 12 hours by the time we arrived at our AirBnB.
The reason why? We had to stop to recharge and refuel. That was quite a long stretch of road to cover in one day. So there were plenty of bathroom breaks, stops for coffee and Diet Coke, and of course, we had to fill the car up with gas. If we hadn’t, not only would the car not have been able to keep going, but Lindsay and I probably wouldn’t have been able to either.
Just like the interstate has rest stops for you (and your car) to rest and refuel, life has rest stops too. There are times in our lives when we need to take the opportunity to rest - whether that means taking a vacation or just taking a day off - even when we’re tempted to keep going.
When was the last time you took a day to rest? I’m not talking about taking a day off of work, because if you’re like me, even when you’re not at work, you’re working at something. You’re meeting up with friends. You’re working on a side project. You’re running errands. You're helping other people. You cross one thing off the list but five more things get added in its place.
If we’re being honest, rest isn’t super popular or trendy right now. Hustling is. There’s this extremely high expectation for us to be working our butts off all the time. Otherwise, people might think we’re lazy or complacent. But resting is something to be prioritized, not ostracized.
So instead, let’s follow the lead of our Heavenly Father and take a day to rest. Let’s close our laptops, put our phones on Do Not Disturb, refuse to check our email, and learn to be still. Even Jesus, who had more than enough to do during His earthly ministry, set aside time to just sit with the Father and spend time in His presence. And if our ultimate goal is to become more like Christ, shouldn’t we be doing the same?
There’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to resting. You don’t have to feel guilty for taking the time to recharge. I hope you’ll take a day to do that this week. And as you do, I pray that you’ll remember these words from Christina Patterson: “God can do more our stillness than we ever could with our hustle.”