Being able to rest and rest well is essential for the body, mind, and soul. Rest is crucial, not only for your physical body, but also for your emotional and spiritual wellbeing. There are thousands of blog posts and books on the benefits of resting, what I hope to give you is a more holistic approach— looking not only to the physical and emotional, but also to the spiritual attributes of rest.
God created us to rest. Think about it, God created Adam on the 6th day and then rested on the 7th. Meaning, Adam’s first full day on earth was the Sabbath. God worked and then rested. Adam rested and then worked. We are called to rest and then, out of that place of rest, work. I think God designed us this way because He knew resting well greatly improves our wellbeing.
Incorporating a habit of rest is one of the most fundamental things you can do to improve your overall life. As Benjamin Franklin stated, “He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.” First, before I dive into the different types of rest and how you can begin resting and resting well, I’ll cover some of the benefits of rest.
Benefits of Resting Well
There are numerous benefits to developing a habit of rest. These benefits include: Less Stress, Deeper Relationships, Developing a Healthier Body, Living a Balanced Life, and Increasing Your Productivity.
Less Stress
My pastor once gave me this formula for stress, and I love a good formula.
PD>PS=St
Stress occurs when your perceived demand is greater than your perceived supply. The operative word in this formula is “perceived.” It’s not the actual demand, not is it your actual supply.
When you believe people, jobs, task, etc. ask more of you than what you believe you have, you experienced stress. So how can you lower stress? One way is to realize either (1) the demand is less than what you perceive it to be, or (2) you actually have more than what you perceive.
Developing a habit of rest will relieve stress by both reducing the perceived demand and by increasing your perceived supply. When you take time to rest, the demand for that moment is decreased to zero. You are resting. Even if its only for 20 minutes, for that 20 minutes, you have no demand. Additionally, the benefits of rest relieves stress even after you’ve finished your 20 minutes.
During rest you’re giving your mind a much needed break. This short, but hopefully habitual, break allows your mind to allocate resources and become more aware of your surroundings and situation. Because of this, you’re mind will actually help uncover what the actual demand and your actual supply.
We, as human beings, have a tendency to believe more is asked of us while also believing we are and have less than what is true. Developing a habit of rest will help remove these limiting and stressful beliefs from our lives.
Deeper Relationships
By resting well, we are able to develop deeper relationships, not just with other people, but also with God. When we are constantly going trying to check off every item on our to-do list, we leave little time and engergy for relationships.
Developing a habit of rest will not free up your to-do list, but the relaxation and awareness that results from rest will help you better prioritize your your to-do list, while giving you more energy.
As mentioned while address stress, the awareness that rest brings will relieve stress as you become more aware of what is actually being asked of you and what you actually have to offer. One of the benefits of this release in tension is that you might come to realize you have more time for things you enjoy…and people you love…than you thought.
When developing relationships with people, taking walks and engaging in deep conversation is increasingly more fruitful than the quick text. With this new awareness obtained from rest, you might find yourself with the much neglected time to engage other people.
Finally, developing a habit of rest will deepen your relationship with God. As addressed later, there are two different types of rest: Positional Rest and Active Rest.
Active rest is the activity of resting. Positional rest is realizing who you are in Christ and knowing where you’re seated. God has seated you in heavenly places. Your spirit is seated in a place of rest. Abiding in rest will pay exponential dividends in your spiritual life.
Additionally, while participating in active rest, I recommend focusing on Jesus and listening to some soaking music, which will be explained in more detail below. My point is when participating in active rest, though you aren’t necessarily praying you are spending time with God. If you want to deepen your relationship with people, spend time with them. The same is true with God.
Healthier Body
Both Your mind and muscles need habitual breaks. Think about it, you never see an elite athlete working hard core on the same muscles 7 days a week. These athletes know that those muscles need time to rest and relax in order to recover and grow. The same is true with your mind.
Your mind is a muscle and needs time to relax and grow just like your other muscles. When I studied for the bar exam, I treated studying like a very demanding job. I studied every day for the summer, usually 12 to 14 hours a day. I experienced a lot of burnout, which will be addressed below.
However, I knew if I was going to do well on the bar exam, I needed to take a well deserved break and rest. Therefore, I took off to my friends for the weekend…the weekend before the bar exam. I told them I wanted to hangout…they hadn’t seen me all summer.
I told them we could do whatever they wanted to for the entire weekend; however, I had one rule. No one was to mention law school or the bar exam. It was a great weekend and a much needed rest. The following Monday I studied very little and my mind was still recovering from the summer and still needed to rest.
If you must know, I passed the bar exam. Not only did I pass, I scored high enough to practice law in every state that used the MBE and had reciprocity with Alabama. I’m convinced I would not have done as well if I didn’t take time to rest.
When you develop a habit of resting, you give your body and your mind time to recover. This improves your overall health as it will better protect you from injuries, both of the mind and body, as your mind and body become stronger.
Balanced Life
Resting allows you to identify yourself by who you are and not just by what you do. When we take time out of our busy schedules just to rest, we’re able to better identify with who we are as individuals, instead of what we do for a living.
When you meet someone knew, what’s usually their first question? Is it now, “What do you do?” I think this is because as a culture we spend so much time at our jobs and so little time resting. In order to have a balanced life, you have to balance work and…life.
We do too much and rest too little. When you develop a habit of rest you’re able to “be” instead of “do.” We’re called human beings and not human doings after all. The more you’re able to be yourself the more you’ll find balance in your life.
As addressed below, developing a habit of rest will increase your productivity. With this increase in energy and productivity, you’ll find that by developing a habit of rest you’re able to engage in hobbies and actives outside of work.
By engaging in these hobbies, you’re establishing an identity outside of your job. Which in turns helps to promote a balanced life. For many Christian bloggers, your blog might be the activity or hobby that you’re doing outside of your full time job.
When you develop a habit of rest, you’ll be able to devote more energy to your blog, which will help balance your life.
Increased Productivity
Developing a habit of receiving from God and resting helps you avoid burnout. Before attending a ministry school in Nashville, I was a youth director. I understand the feeling of pouring out all that you have while yearning for breakthrough. I’d drive about an hour to the church two to three times a week.
We even had 6 am prayer meetings Monday through Friday for several weeks. I was becoming tired and burned out. When I became tired I thought it was an attack from the enemy so I would push harder. I was wrong.
It was like I was running out of gas and to me the answer was drive faster. I was running on empty and I was afraid people would find out; therefore, I would cover it up by being more energetic. I wasn’t taking time to rest and receive from God.
Later God called me to move to Nashville and attend a ministry school. That’s where I truly started resting and receiving from God. I was on most of the ministry teams at the church all the while attending the school two days a week.
On Mondays I’d leave my apartment at 8 am to be at school at 9 am. We had an hour and a half for lunch and a couple of hours for dinner. I’d leave the church that night usually around 10:30 pm, sometimes much later, and then drive back home to pass out before going back for Tuesday’s class.
I was busy, but I loved it. I was ministering more than ever before, but this time I was not becoming tired. Instead, I was becoming more excited. My input from God greatly exceeded my own output; therefore, I was able to give and give more than I thought possible.
Rest is Both a Position and an Activity
Rest isn’t just something you do, it’s more than that…it’s also state of being. Not only do we need to develop the habit of actively resting, we also need to develop the mindset of knowing our position. God positioned us in a place of rest…and out of that rest we’re able to actively love others and be productive.
Position: Abide in Rest
Jesus’s first command to his disciples was to follow Him. His second was to abide in Him. Jesus said in
Matthew 11: 28-30,
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
After we go to Jesus and find rest, the next step is to take His yoke and learn from Him. We are to follow Him and ge continues to give us rest. Finally, to abide in Him…we are to abide in that rest.
Jesus said in John 15:4,
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
We go to Jesus and find rest…then later we abide in Jesus…the very one who gives us rest.
We are positioned in rest. But you might be thinking, if we’re positioned in rest, then how come I don’t always feel it? It could be because our ability to perceive and receive that rest waivers. Two things you can do to help abide in rest is to know who you are and to know where you are.
Know Who You Are
God calls us His children. This is true even though many Christians continue to act like orphans. There is a vast difference between the son and orphan mindset. As A.J. Jones stated in her book Finding Father:
An orphan is someone who lives outside of the Father’s presence. The atmosphere of Heaven is one of continuous love twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Therefore, an orphan is someone who lives outside of that love more than they live in it.
When you develop the mindset of knowing your a child a God and abide in His rest, you’ll live God’s love more than you live outside of it.
Many Christians continue to operate out of the orphan mindset even though they might have grown up in a good home or church. An orphan is about earning where a son is about resting. Living as a son is the way to go since God himself calls us His children.
One who operates out of the spirit of sonship finds security in the Father’s lap. They know they are loved and are able to express that love towards other. They’re able to see their identity reflecting back in the Father’s eyes.
Son’s operate out of the love and rest they receive from the Father. You are given the choice between being an orphan or being a son. Pick being a son. Being a son has it privileges. As Bill Johnson stated,
The greatest treasures are released to those who rest. There are things that are reserved only for sons, not soldiers.
When you abide in rest, you abide in the finished work of the cross knowing God calls you His son. You’re a son or daughter of the King and have the privileges that go with it. When you’re being productive for the Kingdom, and I hope you are, you’re doing so from a position of rest. You’re working out of God’s love and not for God’s love.
If you want to learn more about the orphan v. son mindset, check out my post Are You an Orphan or Son?
Know Where You Are
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2: 4-7,
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God has already raised you up and seated you with Jesus in heavenly places. Where is your spirit man? He’s seated in heavenly places. When you’re going about your day, think about that truth. Ask God to allow you to experience the rest and peace that surrounds you there. You might be surprised to find that you will then experience rest and peace here on earth.
This is different than actively resting, which I’ll cover next, this is rest and peace that can surround you 24/7 as you go about your day. Positional rest is not something you do. It’s not something you’ve earned. It’s a part of the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
If you don’t believe me…test me on this. I can’t pretend to fully understand it, but what I do know is it’s true. God is such a good father who wants His children to experience His presence, His peace, and His love 24/7.
Activity: How to Actively Rest
The activity of resting is different from the position of rest. Where the position of rest concerns our mindset the activity of rest is…well…and activity. Something you do.
I’d recommend taking time to rest each day as you develop your habit of rest. Maybe start small and work your way up. Could you spare 20 minutes a day in order to reap all the benefits of rest mentioned earlier? I bet you could.
Two things you can do to help develop the habit of rest…and to actively rest…are create accountability and listen to soaking music.
Create Accountability
One way to help form a new habit is to find someone to help keep you accountable. Accountability is just as crucial to success as having a gas pedal is to a car. You can have a full tank of gas (passion), but if you don’t have the gas pedal (accountability) you won’t go very far.
As of writing this post, I’m also writing a book. For the book I keep an outline of what all needs to be done and written by a certain time. This schedule is my plan and the outline itself helps me keep track of that plan. Periodically I share my writings with a close friend. This accountability helps me be honest with myself, and it helps me finish my tasks.
First, make your plan. When you’re making your plan, plan out when and where you’ll be resting. Know when and where you plan to purposely rest each day and for how long. I’d even recommend writing out why you’re setting time aside each day to rest. Knowing why you’re doing something helps ensure you accomplish that goal. Therefore, make a plan and write it out. Plan on resting daily. Doing something daily helps to convert the action into a habit.
Finally, Find a close friend or a spouse and share your plan with them. Let them know you’re planning out time each day just to rest and you’d like to get them to hold you accountable. Maybe, when you start to slip—because you will—they can help you find the gas pedal again—because they will.
Listen to Soaking Music
Listen to some soaking music while resting…better yet…soak while you’re resting. What I call soaking is simply lying down and soaking in the presence of our loving God. Soaking music is typically soft music that can be played in the background. Soaking is not a time for you to be going through your prayer list or reading the Bible. It is a time of rest.
You are simply resting in your Father’s presence. God promises as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. When we soak, we focus our attention on God. We increase our awareness of His presence. Soaking is quality time with God.
In Psalm 46:10 God tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” God longs to revel more to us, long for us to experience more of Him. Maybe sometimes we don’t always get it because we are too busy. The things we’re doing might be good. It might even be prayer. Take a moment to pause, even during your time of prayer, just to worship God from the depth and center of your soul.
We soak in the presence of Holy Spirit and God brings us peace, rest, and displays more of His tender mercies as we continue to love God and simply spend time with Him.
Conclusion
Being able to rest and rest well is essential for the body, mind, and soul. God created us to rest and to rest well. The benefits of resting greatly outweigh the 20 minutes a day it takes to actively rest. These benefits include: Less Stress, Deeper Relationships, Developing a Healthier Body, Living a Balanced Life, and Increasing Your Productivity.
Rest is not only an activity, but also a position. We are to go to Jesus to find rest, but then we abide in Jesus…the very one who gives rest. This is positional rest. We receive rest, not by what we do, but because of where we are and who we are. We are God’s children and we’re seated in heavenly places. We’re constantly surrounded by love, peace, and rest.
Finally, rest is an activity and a habit we can develop. This is done by taking time out of our busy schedule each day just to rest in God’s presence soaking. Developing the habit of rest is a great way to begin the habit of having a consistent and enjoyable quiet time with God each day.
Having a life-giving quiet time is not just crucial for your spiritual life, but also for your blog and business. Check out my post, How a Quiet Time Transforms Your Life, Blog, & Business, to learn more.
If having a consistent and life-giving quiet time is something you’ve always wanted to develop, I encourage you to take my Quiet Time Challenge.
Quiet Time Challenge
If you struggle having a consistent and enjoyable quiet time, join me for a 5-Day Quiet Time Challenge. In addition to receiving my free quiet time guide, detailing the five things I do when having a quiet time, you’ll also receive one email a day during the challenge to help kick start your quiet time. Join the challenge and get my free guide.
Take the Quiet Time Challenge
Question: How do you actively rest? Let me know in the comments.
Very good Chris.
Thank you, Mr Brown! I’m glad you enjoyed it!