Busy, stressed, weary, restless, anxious, depressed, confused. How many times in the last week or month have you used a phrase like the words above to describe your experience? Henry Nouwen says, “We aren’t rest-filled people who occasionally become restless, we’re restless people who sometimes find rest.”
How do we flip this? How do we become people who live rest-filled lives instead of rest-less lives?
At one time in my life, Henry’s words described me perfectly. I was always working to obtain a sliver of rest for my weary and anxious soul. It wasn’t until my body suffered complete exhaustion that I cried out to God for a way out. For a detour off the beaten path of societal pressures and pursuits. That is when God showed me that peace, groundedness, and clarity only come from a place of rest. By learning to live in the rhythm of his rest, I found a gift my soul was longing for.
I’ve realized a freeing truth, that productivity does not determine my significance and because of that, my soul has found a secure footing. I now can work, create and live from a place of rest because I confronted the root of what was driving my hurried, pressured practices. It was fear. Fear of being insignificant. I had to uproot this fear in my heart and allow God the space to place his truth there instead if I ever wanted off this crazy train.
Striving for significance is all meaningless really when we discover that everything that makes us significant God has already placed within us. Weariness comes from striving for things you already have but fail to embrace. I thought my books, my ministry, leading a team of women, speaking, and growing a social media platform would all prove to God and you that I was good enough. It led to me falling flat on my face. It was humiliating for this perfectionist, determined and striving woman to fail and fall the way I did. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because in my failure I was forced to let go of control. I was forced to open my heart to the fact that God had a better way. He’d given me everything I needed, but I was focused on the wrong things. It took slowing down, and really listening to God’s heart to find that what I was longing for was within me all along.
He promises us his peace! It is a crazy thought in this fast-paced world that we are actually peace-filled beings. Our fears blind us to this truth but God waits. He waits for us to discover that all he wants to do is give us the REST REASSURANCE and RESTORATION our souls are longing to experience.
To all my weary friends out there, I ask you to pause and slow down long enough to rest in the beauty, worth, and peace that has been within you all along. In Psalm 23, God offers us rest. It is up to us to discover what fear has been whispering in our ear and robbing us of the rest he offers. I challenge you to practice daily rhythms of rest in your life and see what God reveals to your heart about how beautiful you already are!
Here are a few simple practices to get you started:
1. SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE
Pick one scripture to read daily over the
next month. Discover what God is trying to
develop in you and speak to your heart
through this verse? Let each day bring more
depth, understanding, and rest in who God
wants to be for you.
2. SILENCE CHALLENGE
Practice a daily dose of silence for the next
week. Begin with 1 minute the first day and
then build from there until you are up to
5-10 minutes on the 7th day. Discover what
God wants to reveal to your heart in the
stillness and how he wants to encourage
you as you disconnect from all the other
noises and distractions.
3. NATURE CHALLENGE
Take a walk in nature and soak in all the
beauty of the sights, smells, sensations, and
sounds. Find what is most soothing to you
in God’s creation and reflect on how you
can add more calming and peaceful
experiences into your daily life? Let this
time in nature allow you to pause and soak
in the reset, God is offering you.
4. LYRIC CHALLENGE
Find a song that draws you right in. Pick a phrase
in the song that helps your mind focus on
what is good and true and right about what
God is doing in your life right now. Write it
out and re-read it every day for the next
month so that you intentionally focus your
thoughts on God’s view of you each day.
5. LETTING GO CHALLENGE
What is one thing you need to practice
letting go? Is bitterness, self-doubt, or fear
robbing you of the rest God wants to give
you? Focus on just one area in your life that
you need to practice releasing to God and
over the next month watch how he begins
to help you release it.
Let the REST begin…
Be Bold ~ Be A Light