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Accepting Jesus’s Invitation to Take a Real Rest

You know that feeling at the end of the day when you finally take out the ponytail you’ve been wearing for hours? There’s a dull ache and it doesn’t feel all that great, but you know it won’t linger for long. You rub your head where the rubber band once was, massaging away the tenderness, and snuggle into your pillow. Ahhh …it’s time to rest!

The thing about rest of all kinds, from the quick midafternoon nap to the soul-deep variety that we’re after here, is that it requires an undoing, a releasing, or surrender. You trade in something (time, productivity, a nice hairdo), trusting that what you’ll receive in the end will be so much better than what you gave up.

Often the things that are tangling you up and keeping you from real rest are the very things you’re clinging to. They are the beliefs and patterns of behavior you lean into, thinking they are what you need to be safe, provided for, significant, and successful. This is a paradox—when we let go of these unfruitful efforts to prove ourselves worthy, we make room for God to prove himself worthy and in turn, set our souls at ease.

The rest Jesus invites you to experience is not a one-time act, like taking a nap or a vacation or a mid-workout water break. Rather, it’s the calm inner disposition of a secure identity that no longer feels the need to self-protect and self-promote. Jesus opens his arms and makes this curious exchange: your anxious thoughts for his perfect peace.

This is an invitation to take a real rest.

Lord, I come before you more aware of how I turn to the things of this world for identity, and I acknowledge the ways this keeps me trapped in a life that is not truly alive and free. You have so much more for me. Thank you for being a God who listens, who is in control, and who is faithful to do all you have promised. Help me notice what I add to my life as a distraction from being still or from tending to my heart needs. Show me the wonders of rest for my mind, body, and spirit so that I hunger for it more than I thirst for busyness. I’m so grateful to lean into your strength today. Amen.