Day 13: Practicing Rest Every Day
Two disclaimers with this post, and Disclaimer #1 is scripture.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1
The vision of freedom God has for us is how I want to operate in this world and this freedom vision starts in how I relate to God.
Disclaimer #2
What I am about to share is my practice. It’s not a copy-paste standard for anyone else, and it’s not a standard at all because that brings a sense of good/bad that goes against Disclaimer #1. It’s a practice – how I rest every day – because if I don’t set up some sort of structure it remains in the land of good intention. Rest doesn’t happen.
Cool? Cool.
Some context. I love to work, and I’m well suited for the work I do, which at the time of this post looks like teaching entrepreneurship at Miami University and writing novels. I enjoy my work, and I have lot of work to do. As such, I’m prone to overworking. If I don’t set up barriers, I will overwork.
So, I practice rest every day by beginning every day with rest. Why the morning? It’s when I’m at my best. I wake up ready – clear-headed, energetic, and excited … so much so that I’m tempted to whack away at the to-do list when my productivity and quality are at their peak. Sometimes, I give over and start working, and you know what?
I get a lot of work done!
I prove to myself, yet again, what an amazing worker I am, but I’d like to think I’m more than that. I’d like to think the day is about more than that, but I can’t conjure this vision myself. I need to receive it.
Starting the day with God stands in stark contrast to starting the day with work. It still includes an alarm and coffee, but from here, it goes an infinite number of ways. Entering into God’s rest isn’t some legalistic maneuver through scripture, study, prayer, or any other trappings of what a good Christian should do. What I’m doing isn’t the goal at all. Knowing God and what God has for me is the goal, and how I go about that, and the time it takes to go about that changes every day. Sometimes it’s 15 minutes, and I read a psalm. Yesterday, it was two hours, and included listening to a sermon, journaling, and praying.
What doesn’t change is entering into God’s rest every morning, every day. Ish (I’m not perfect). In doing this, I pray that everything I go on to do will draw from this rest. It sounds like a paradox, but I’ve come to see that working from rest is best (and also a little rhymey).
Stuff to Consider
The best time to rest is your best time of the day. Don’t get caught up on my early alarm or anyone else’s. Find your best time and challenge yourself to hand it over.There’s freedom in how you go about it. Nothing kills a relationship by being something you are not. The God who created you is the God who knows you. Be that person in your rest.There’s grace when you don’t go about it. Shame is obnoxious and cannot stand in the light of God’s grace and mercy. Maybe you’re reading this and thinking – Shoot, when was the last time I did this? There’s a better question you can ask, like – How can I rest today?
Where I Need Your Help
I tank as the day goes on and sort of end it in an exhausted, drooling heap. Do you have any practices for resting touchpoints at the end of the day that might help a girl out?
Fill the comments below with your daily practices to help all of us along!
We’re talking rest right now on the blog – what it is, why we need it, and how we get it. If you just jumped in, go to Post 1 to catch up. Sign up for the blogs to go straight to your Inbox so you don’t miss any!
