Our Resistance to Rest

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

I think I can trace my resistance to rest all the way back to kindergarten.  Every day, my teacher would have us lie down on little mats for 30 minutes.  Thirty minutes!  As a kindergartener, that seemed like an eternity. I didn't want to lie there. I didn't want to be still. I wanted to get up and do something.
Looking back, I realize something: maybe that's where my resistance to rest started.  
Of course, I didn't understand it then. But somewhere along the way, I began to associate being still with doing nothing—and doing nothing with wasting time.  And isn't that something many of us carry into adulthood?

We live in a culture that celebrates hard work, sacrifice, productivity and perseverance. We're taught to push through. Keep going. Don't quit. Work harder. Give more.  And there is certainly something biblical about diligence.  But what happens when you're tired?  When your body is saying, slow down.  When your mind is saying, I can't process one more thing.  When your soul is saying, I need Jesus.  When is less more?  What if rest isn't the opposite of productivity?  Maybe we've gotten this wrong.

We can be so committed to doing more that we forget that God intentionally created us with limits and put in us a need to rest.  There are only 24 hours in a day.  We need sleep.  We need quiet.  We need Sabbath.  We need moments when we're not producing, fixing, serving, solving or accomplishing.  Even Jesus rested.  In Mark 6:31, after the disciples had been pouring themselves out, Jesus said: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
I love that Jesus didn't look at their exhaustion and tell them to try harder.  He invited them to come away and rest.
Jesus understood something we often forget: We are not machines.  We are human beings.  And sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is stop. We resist rest because we think everything depends on us, or maybe that's just me :D
I'll be honest. There were times when rest made me uncomfortable.  Because when I stop, I can see all the things that still need to be done.  The emails.  The responsibilities.  The people who need something.  The ideas swirling around in my head. The unfinished projects.  The things I thought I would have accomplished by now.  And that's when God gently reminds me:  “Julie, when did I ask you to carry the whole world?”

Maybe you need that reminder too.  The world doesn't depend on you.  Your ministry doesn't depend entirely on you.
Your family doesn't depend entirely on you.  Your future doesn't depend entirely on you.  God is still God when you take a day off.  He is still working when you're sleeping.  He is still moving when you're sitting still.  He is still providing when you're not striving.  Psalm 46:10 says:  “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Maybe being still is not wasted time.
Maybe it's where we remember who is actually in control.  We have made exhaustion look noble.  Somewhere along the way, we've started wearing exhaustion like a badge of honor.  “How are you?”  “Busy!”  "Tired!"  And we almost say it proudly.  But being constantly exhausted isn't necessarily evidence that we're doing God's will.  Sometimes it's evidence that we've forgotten our limits.  We can be doing good things and still be doing too much.  We can love people and still need boundaries.  We can serve God and still need sleep.  We can have a calling and still need a chair, a quiet room and a little time to breathe.

Jesus Himself withdrew to quiet places to pray.  “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” — Luke 5:16
If Jesus intentionally stepped away, why do we think we should always be available?  When is less more?  That's the question I've been asking myself.  When is less actually more?  Maybe it's when another commitment would leave you with no margin.  Maybe it's when your calendar is so full that you have no room to hear God.  Maybe it's when you're saying yes to everyone else but continually saying no to your own need for rest.  Maybe it's when you're accomplishing a lot but enjoying very little.  Maybe it's when your body is present, but your mind and spirit are completely depleted.
There are seasons when God calls us to work hard.  There are seasons when He asks us to sacrifice.  There are seasons of pouring out.  But there are also seasons of being poured into.  We need both.

May I remind you that you are valuable even when you're not accomplishing anything.  Your worth isn't found in your calendar.  It isn't found in your job.  It isn't found in your ministry.  It isn't found in how many people need you.  Your worth is found in the fact that you are God's creation and deeply loved by Him.  Jesus didn't say, “Come to me, all who have everything figured out.”  He said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  

Come.  Take a nap without feeling guilty.  Give yourself permission to stop.  Put the phone down. Turn off the notifications.  Take a walk.  Sit quietly with God.  And, it's okay to leave something on tomorrow's to-do list.

Breathe.  And remember:  God doesn't need you to be exhausted to be faithful.  Perhaps Mrs. Niederwerder, my  kindergarten teacher was onto something.  Maybe those 30 minutes on a little mat weren't wasted time after all.  Maybe I was learning a lesson I would need for the rest of my life.  “Come to me… and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28