Rest is almost a foreign concept in our culture these days. We are so busy, and fill our lives constantly with productivity, hoping that the busyness will make us feel strong, superior or like we are at least doing life in a way that makes others think we have some value. I think sometimes we are trying to prove ourselves worthy of our own lives. We run at such a pace that we don’t have to stop and think, fostering true relationship or accepting the peace that rest brings.
Rest has almost become equated with laziness. I think often of how in Luke 10, Jesus spoke to Martha when Mary was sitting at His feet, and I wonder how anything practical was supposed to get done with people just sitting around! I would have had the same exasperation as Martha, and have had it in moments of stressful preparation. Jesus wasn’t criticizing Martha’s practical bent, I think, but rather saying that work must come from a source of rest, intimacy and relationship.
Sometimes I believe I have a handle on all that I need to get done in a day, and I’m stressed immediately with anything I see as an interruption in this schedule I see as necessary to get so much accomplished. I think God might purposefully send me interruptions on these days in order to remind me that productivity is not its own source. I must have something that provides strength, wisdom and direction, or I’m just spinning my wheels to accomplish what I have put on my list.
I think somehow I imagine there is a trophy waiting for me when I meet my productivity goals. Or maybe it’s acceptance that I believe waits as my reward. If I do such and such, finish my list, do more than anyone thought possible, then maybe they will accept me. But I have made my target audience a bunch of crazy people (no offense!) and my assumption of how they feel about what I’ve done. This, of course, doesn’t end in anything that resembles acceptance. I get up again the next day and have to start over with my driven desperation of accomplishment, hoping the end goal will be different this time.
Rest doesn’t necessarily mean a nap, by the way. Sometimes it might, but rest to me is the quieting of my soul and spirit, and the pursuing of relationship with God in whatever way He has brought me today. It might be reading the Bible or a book. It might be singing a worship song. It might be walking outside and praying through so many hurting people. It might be sitting quietly with nothing going on, and just being with Jesus. I don’t want to drown out this time, though, by believing that I will accomplish more if I just skip it altogether and move on with my day.
This isn’t a chore. The time spent with God is for relationship, not checking off a list. I definitely used to have a “quiet time” list that just brought me back to trying to accomplish again. Instead, relationship is built on time together without pressure or a measure of how the time went. It’s the simplicity of sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him and waiting for Him. It may be a few minutes while I’m waiting for something, or it may be a few hours. But there is no stipulation or grade for this time.
When I love someone, I want to spend time, and rest is the result of this. I leave my time with God with a deep peace in my spirit, knowing that I am loved not because of what I’m going to do, but before I do one thing. As I go about my day, I am drawn back again and again to His feet, checking in about this and that. The interesting thing to me is that I often accomplish more on days that I have taken a little time for rest and relationship, but that isn’t the goal.
I believe this rest actually becomes a place to find and reconnect with the strength that God is providing through His Life within me. We always imagine strength comes from doing—working out, trying harder, investing time and energy into this strength. But if the strength comes from my relationship with God, then I need to go back to time with Him in order to remember the source and access it. All we need to do is ask for strength, and He is faithful to provide what we need for the day. Rest allows us a chance to turn and remember, to enjoy and be enjoyed, and to go deeper in intimacy with the Lover of our souls. Rest becomes a place for strength to be renewed, the place to start for any endeavor ahead.
Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear. Matthew 11:28-30