Take a moment to think about the periods of your life when you experienced the LEAST amount of sleep.

I immediately think back to my summers as a counselor for jr. high school students at Pine Cove Christian Camps. 6 days a week, 24 hours a day for 12 weeks I gave everything that I had. My skin endured the sun and my hair the pool’s chlorine. This partial introvert had less than 15 minutes a day to call her own. Everything was timed down to the minute: eating, sleeping, even free time. Physical activity was almost constant. I entered into my 24 hours off with nothing left to give… even my voice was gone by the end of each week at camp. I was physically and emotionally spent – but spiritually  my cup was running over.

Don’t be jealous of my outfit…

How is it possible to expend every ounce of energy and yet remain rested and filled?

1. Freely admit weakness to the Lord. I recognized within the first week that the task was impossible. I was forced to turn the workload over to the Lord and trust Him to give me words, energy, and love for the girls in my cabin. Sometimes rest starts when we look upward and say through tears, “But I can’t do this. I’m too tired and there’s too much to do.” Our Savior smiles and says again, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28, JBP)

2. Cling to the Word. Carve out that time. Those fifteen minutes each morning before I woke up my girls are some of the sweetest times of connection I’ve ever had with the Lord. Because I was dependent upon Him for every physical need throughout the day, I was desperate to feast upon His Word each morning. God’s Word really was the lamp for my feet and the light for my path.

3. Ask for Help. I would not have made it through any of my summers without the encouragement, support, and prayers of the staff around me. I quickly learned to be vulnerable and share my requests, to let the tears fall, and to allow myself to express needs. If you find yourself panicking because of your to-do list, I would encourage you to examine your life and see if you can ask for help; whether that be through presence or prayer.

4. Protect the Sabbath. The temptation with a day off can be to fill it with the items that keep getting pushed off of our to-do lists. We find an open Saturday or Sunday and quickly begin to fill them with lots of good things while God has the BEST thing for us: REST. On my trip to Israel this spring I began to view Sabbath in a whole new light. It wasn’t a rule to follow, but a GIFT from God. He wants us to rest from work because we need it! “God presents the Sabbath rest as a shelter we can enter.” ― Charles R. Swindoll. I don’t know what Sabbath will look like for you, but for my 24 hours off from camp I needed time alone. In order to be refreshed for the whole week I spent a portion of it reading, a portion filling up on the fruits and veggies that my body was craving, a portion of one-on-one time with a friend or family member, and a portion worshipping with the body of believers. I knew not to schedule much, but to train myself that just “be-ing” was necessary to keep my spirit at rest.

5. Walk by faith. Faith brings rest. When I trust God’s hand in my life it frees me from worry. The answer to my fears is faith in the One who calls. That faith allows me to live unrestrained from worries: the plane is held up, the car is protected, the tasks will be completed… or not. Rest comes when we finally settle in and trust that God is in control. For “faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.” (Oswald Chambers)

For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said, 

   Exasperated, I vowed, 
      ”They’ll never get where they’re going, 
      never be able to sit down and rest.”

… And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:1-3, 8-11, The Message)

“At least one indication of unbelief is the tendency to measure life’s challenges against our own adequacy instead of God’s promises. To enter our Sabbath rest, we must put an end to self-reliance – trusting in our own abilities to overcome difficulties, rise above challenges, escape tragedies, or achieve personal greatness.”― Charles R. Swindoll

Obviously these points aren’t meant to be a complete and final list, merely an encouragement for each of us to find rest even in the midst of service to our King. What would you add to the list?

Following,
Ginger

As we drove through the desert on our journey home from Mexico, I couldn’t help but remark how green everything looked, even in July! Temps here are usually around 110, so finding anything but brown was a pleasant surprise.

Showers and dust storms followed us all the way home. My backyard that usually consists of rocks and sparse plants is now starting to have green growth popping up everywhere. Even the smallest amount of water brings about life in this desert.

But do you know what isn’t flourishing? My potted plants. I’m trying desperately to keep basil, oregano, and rosemary alive during the hot summer months, but I seem to be failing. I move the pots in and out of the sun, fearing that too much or too little might undo a whole year of progress. I debate  the times of day and amount to water… and all of this trying, studying, trimming, and working… seems to be killing the poor plants.

My weeds are flourishing and my herbs are choking.

Sounds like a metaphor for rest to me.

“A” sent in a great question about finding ways to rest even in the busyness of life. But rather than talking some more about what rest looks like, I want to talk about how we often work to rest, rather than just resting. We focus our energy to rest better: sleep later, say “no” to activities, find time to do something we love, read our Bibles more, attend another Bible Study… and end up feeling exhausted rather than rested. Like my herbs, all the worry and care isn’t providing the environment for growth. (This is the story of my try-hard life!)

I’ve realized in the past month that I’ve always thought rest was really associated with sleep and forgetting a to-do list. And while rest can definitely involve both of those things, I’ve come to believe that it can be so much deeper and richer. Kevin East wrote a blog post earlier this month that still has me thinking. The post was about the treasure of hand-written notes. I totally agree, there’s nothing this “written words of affirmation” gal loves more than a long note. But the part of the post that spoke directly to my heart was actually a quoted portion of a letter that someone had written to Kevin. Here’s what I mean…

In the late 90′s a good friend saw in me a never-stop-working mentality.  There was always something that could be improved, or a new idea that could be hatched.  I was working myself to the bone and was on pace to fizzle out soon.  It was in that season that I received this letter in the mail.  It read:

Remember, rest is not in sleeping late.  It is not in being alone.  Rest is active, and full of faith.  It is sitting before the Lord and drawing all your desires from him.”

He went on to quote Psalms 62:1 “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.”

The letter set me free.  It reminded me that I wasn’t working to please God, but working out of His pleasure in me.  That freedom allowed me to stop and enjoy the journey He had me on.  I took that letter and read it to my staff each year for the next ten years.

I’ve said those words aloud to my soul several times over the past week. Rest is active, and full of faith. But just because something is active doesn’t mean that it has to be an exhausting activity.

The weeds in my rocky backyard are growing because they were positioned to simply receive the rain. They didn’t move around hoping to get the best sun angle or perfect water amount, they just grew.

We are going to keep running with this theme all week, but I wanted to kick it off with the realization that rest comes primarily through trust that God will provide for all of our needs. In the midst of my to-dos and tasks, I must trust that He will give me the strength, stamina, and courage to face this day. I don’t just work harder to rest, I shift my mindset and surrender by trusting His power and perfect provision.

“Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— “Come to Me.” And it is a voluntary coming.

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, September 13

Resting through trusting,
Ginger