When Your Soul Longs for Rest Amid a Busy Life

In August, I attended a conference at which every guest was invited to meet with four representatives from a prophetic prayer ministry. When my turn came, I entered their room with a sense of anticipation. What might they say, I wondered?

Because this was my second experience with them, I knew they wouldn’t ask me for prayer requests. Instead, they would spend a few moments in silent prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to show them how to pray. Everything they prayed for me in my first encounter a year ago was spot-on. The second proved the same.

They had no way of knowing that I’d arrived at the conference physically and mentally spent. They had no clue that I’d been meditating on the word “rest” for the past month and wondering how I could find it amid the busyness of launching Names of God: Knowing Peace while writing Names of God: Finding Strength.

They couldn’t have known how I felt, but God knew, and His Holy Spirit prompted them to pray that I might experience rest for body and soul.

Our need for rest amid a busy life

God created me and you with an inherent need for rest. We often equate rest with sleep, but that’s only a small part of the whole picture. In her book Sacred Rest, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith discloses our need for seven types of rest: physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, sensory, and creative.

We can become depleted in any or all these categories, and replenishment comes only when we take intentional actions. For example, spending hours scrolling on social media might tax our sensory rest. We go into sensory overload, frustrated by negative interactions and our tendency to fall into comparison.

We replenish our need for sensory rest by limiting time on social media, turning off notifications, and learning to be comfortable with silence.

We can become depleted in physical rest if we believe we must be all things for all people. The fear of missing out (FOMO) drives us to pick up responsibilities that were never meant for us to carry. Perfectionism, our need for control, and the desire to impress others also drain our physical rest bucket. 

We can replenish our rest bucket by learning to say no. Just because someone asks us to do a task doesn’t mean it’s ours to do. Before responding, we do well to ask ourselves a couple of questions like, “Why am I considering this request?” and “Is this task something the Lord wants me to do?” If we believe the answer to the latter is no, then we needn’t feel guilty when we decline.

I encourage you to check out this interview with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith in which she explains more about the seven types of rest: https://www.mariashriversundaypaper.com/why-youre-still-tired-dr-saundra-dalton-smith-on-the-7-types-of-rest-we-all-need/

Recent lessons learned about rest

When the prayer team asked God to give me rest, I envisioned an honest-to-goodness week-long vacation from ministry-related responsibilities. Laying in the sunshine and sipping iced tea sounded good to me, but that’s not at all what happened. 

Rest came after I landed in the hospital and underwent surgery to repair a rare diaphragm hernia. I don’t believe for an instant that God created a medical emergency to force me to lie down in green pastures, but I do believe He allowed it to happen and then used it to lead me to a deeper understanding about rest. Here are three lessons I learned:

•  We can rest in God’s care.

When the ER doctor diagnosed my condition and told me that I would be admitted to the hospital for surgery, I felt nothing but peace. When my surgeon called me a ticking time bomb, again—I felt only peace. I had no clue what the outcome would be, but I felt secure in God’s hands knowing this was no surprise for Him.

Life throws curve balls, and we get to choose our response: we can worry about the what-ifs, or we can walk in peace knowing God holds us in His hands. Choosing the latter leads us to a place of rest.

• We can rest in God’s strength.

Having the strength to speak at a women’s retreat four days after being discharged from the hospital was nothing short of miraculous. I’d agreed to doing this event a year prior, and the thought of cancelling a couple days before it was scheduled to happen was inconceivable.

Don’t get me wrong—I would have respected the surgeon if he’d forbidden me to go, but he did not. I took every precaution necessary to guard my recovery, and God gave me the strength and support necessary to fulfill my commitment. 

We all encounter weakness at some time or other. Sometimes God calls us to acknowledge it by pulling back and choosing physical rest over activity. Those of us with A-type personalities know how hard this can be, right? We’re able to put the brakes on only by relying on God’s strength.

Sometimes God calls us to acknowledge our weakness as an opportunity to experience His strength in new ways. That’s when we push through our weakness trusting Him for wisdom and empowerment to do what He calls us to do.

• We can rest in God’s sovereignty.

Several months ago, Sailor-Man and I agreed to find a volunteer team to take to Romania for ministry during the first week of November. We were disappointed when we couldn’t find anyone interested in going and had to cancel that ministry outreach. In retrospect, I see God’s sovereignty at work: He knew I wouldn’t be fit for travel at the beginning of November. 

God makes no mistakes. He rules over every detail of our lives. When we are walking in obedience to His directives, we needn’t second-guess our circumstances. We can rest in the knowledge that He is in control.

An invitation to experience rest in a busy life

Busyness can deplete us, so let’s guard our hearts and listen for God’s voice regarding where and how He wants us to invest time and energy. Let’s ask Him to make us aware of His care and sovereignty when life leads us down an unexpected detour. Let’s invite Him to teach us how to operate in His strength despite our weakness.

Let’s also remember Jesus’s invitation to experience rest amid a busy life. He said, 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you 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 11:28-30 NLT)

Make Jesus your focus. He’s there for you. He promises to give you rest, and He will always keep His word.