Rest is an Act of Trust

From Live and Lead, my monthly newsletter to my reader

Dear friends, 

This month on social media, I am focusing on the theme of rest. Don’t you long for rest? I know I do! 

It’s sometimes hard for me to give myself permission to rest. I’m a planner, and I love a good task list. It brings me great joy to mark items as completed. But let’s be honest. Putting “rest” on my task list seems to lose the sentiment of it. It takes away the very essence of rest and makes it feel like another task to complete rather than a gift to receive. 

Yet the older I get, the more I am learning that rest is an act of trust. 

The Gift of Sabbath 

When I resist rest, I often discover that underneath the resistance is a subtle belief that everything depends on me. The work won’t get done. The emails won’t be answered. The people I care about won’t be cared for. The responsibilities won’t be met. 

Sabbath tells a different story. 

From the beginning, God models a rhythm of work and rest. Jesus invites his disciples to “come away and rest awhile.” Sabbath reminds us that the world continues to turn even when we stop. God remains faithful even when we step away from our work. Rest becomes a declaration of trust that God is God, and I am not. 

R.E.S.T  

Many years ago, I learned a definition of R.E.S.T. that has stayed with me ever since. R.E.S.T. means Renewing Energy in the Spirit’s Time.   

I love that definition because it reminds me that rest is not merely the absence of work. Rest is about intentionally creating space for God to renew our souls. 

Over the years, I’ve learned that these rituals don’t have to be grand or elaborate. Sometimes R.E.S.T. looks like a quiet cup of coffee and prayer before the house wakes up. Sometimes it is a walk outside and a pause to savor my garden. Sometimes it is a family movie night that gives everyone permission to slow down and simply be together.  

The question is not simply, “Am I resting?” The deeper question is: What rituals help me renew my energy in the spirit’s time? 

Three Discernment Questions that Help Me Rest  

As I think about rest these days, I find myself also returning to three discernment questions: 

• What is mine to do? 

• What is God’s to do? 

• What is someone else’s to do? 

Perhaps my exhaustion, our exhaustion, often comes when we blur those lines. So, this month, I invite you into a brief Examen with your calendar. Look at the days ahead and prayerfully notice: 

• What commitments feel life-giving? 

• Where have I left room for prayer, delight, and renewal? 

• What responsibilities am I carrying that belong to God? 

• What expectations am I carrying that belong to someone else? 

• Where might God be inviting me to embrace a holy pause? 

As I pray with my own calendar this month, one question continues to echo in my heart: What responsibility am I carrying that God never asked me to carry? 

Perhaps the invitation this September is not to do more. Perhaps it is simply to trust more. Rest is an act of trust. May we trust God in our rituals of R.E.S.T. May we trust God by carrying only what is mine to do!  

Know I am praying for you!  

Peace, 

Becky