When rest is calling

Hello there and welcome to this month’s post entry. It’s been a while. I had this post in mind before I decided to take an unannounced break. A break which nourished me and brought a different perspective to rest.

To be honest, rest has been something I struggled with; in fact, I still struggle with it sometimes.  

Anyway, back to the post, in this month’s entry, we will be debunking rest:

• What it means to rest 
• The necessity to revive, realign, account and restructure our everyday living ever so often, and 
• Applicable methods to experience rest in our lives.

We will be looking at:

1. What is rest?
2. Doing a lifestyle review
3. The main take away
4. Conclusion

What is rest?

According to the Webster’s Dictionary 1828 “Rest” is a “Cessation of motion or action of any kind, and applicable to any body or being; as rest from labor; rest from mental exertion; rest of body or mind. A body is at rest when it ceases to move; the mind is at rest when it ceases to be disturbed or agitated.”

In a world where everything is always in motion, we not only need to rest our bodies, but our minds too. Most often I find that my body gets a break but my mind does not. I have recently come to uncover that (Romans 12:2 NKJV): “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” has a benefit to it, the benefit of rest and that that rest comes from Jesus Christ. 

Side note: Now, this is not the only scripture beneficial to us, however, this will be one of the scriptures used to reference rest in the duration of this post. 

In (Romans 12:2 NKJV), Paul urges us not to be conformed to this world; he then continues to tell us how: by the renewing of our minds, he furthermore illustrates the result: so we may be able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

In reverse; for us to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, we need to renew our minds and therefore won’t be conformed to this world.

Now, to explain how rest is illustrated in this verse, I will also be combining (Romans 12:2 NKJV) with 2 more verses. Bear with me, we are getting there. 

Back to (Romans 12:2 NKJV); the part of the verse I have personally come to love and received revelation from is the renewing of our minds. It seemed simple until I asked myself:

• How does one renew their mind? 
• What does that look like? 
• Why would I need to renew something? 

I was adamant to know what the word renewing meant and one of the definitions of renew is to resume something (an activity) after being interrupted.

POV: “When I am hit with life’s many curve balls and am interrupted by feeling sad, burdened, defeated, etc., there’s always Someone I am urged to go to: Jesus”. 

In (Matthew 11:28 NLT), Jesus tells us to come to Him and He will give us rest. In (John 1:1 NKJV), we learn that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. In short, that’s when the ball started rolling. I saw the connection and therefore was able to conclude: we come to the Word (Jesus) to find rest. 

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NLT) This verse hits different now that I see that one of the riches given to me is rest. Christ is truly my everything, literally.

In hindsight, what I am saying is that we need to be locked into the Word of God which is Jesus Christ.

When He says we should come to Him, He is illustrating His presence in the Word.

Doing a lifestyle review

I’ve personally (pretty sure I am not the only in this) come to the realisation that growth is imminent in our lives and with growth comes different and sometimes bigger responsibilities; I am not the same person I was 3 months ago.

I have gotten to know more people, experienced changes in working hours, experienced so many changes with my children, and more. I often tell myself I have much less time.

Bottom line is, time is very much the same, I just have more on my plate; and this is how and why a lifestyle review is necessary before I find myself fatigued and wondering how on earth am I going to get anything done.

So what would that review include? 

1. Firstly, one needs to journal what or who is current.
2. Making a list of importance, in other words prioritise or re-prioritise.
3. Delegating where you can.
4. Planning according to your priorities and energy, do not over commit.
5. Canceling or re-scheduling where necessary.
6. Not forgetting to plan to rest.

The above are just examples of things we can implement and practice whilst doing a lifestyle review.

The main take away

Reading the Word of God gives us rest; and that rest is important and beneficial.

Conclusion

Rest is fundamentally important. Allowing us to make not only sound decisions but to effectively and efficiently manage uncanny circumstances. 

Better yet, we have come to find that rest is found in Christ through reading the Word.

Thank you for your patience and reading through this post. I enjoy sharing my journey and what I have learnt. Has this been good?

Always remember that nothing should substitute reading the Word of God.