4 Questions to Find Spiritual Rest
Written by Phil Schulz
How hard is it to be present, to not be thinking ahead in our day or in our week?
Kids, job, house chores, house fixes, church, sports, homework, menial tasks, etc. No wonder we are tired, overwhelmed, and anxious. The reality is, God loves you, God sees you, and…
God wants you to rest.
Yet, this sometimes feels hard for us to believe. This is difficult for us to see in action. And even if we know God is with us and wants us to relax, should we just block out the responsibilities we have? Should we spurn the tasks that give us a moment's peace when we complete them? What if we let someone down or don’t live up to the expectations we have for ourselves?
We know that we need things to do because we need purpose in our lives. God wants us to work, to help others, to help ourselves. (Proverbs 13:4)
What brings sustainable joy?
This is true, we need purpose and work in our lives. However, maybe we’re finding our strength and purpose in ways that are unlikely to create sustainable joy. Our aim is distorted in what we’re doing. We’re looking for security, self-fulfillment, or status. In reality, these are fleeting ideas anyway, with only temporary notions of attaining them, and they’re never as fulfilling as we think they’ll be.
This goes along with the American culture of appearances. It’s about looking and feeling busy, of hoping someone notices all that we’re doing and and all that we’re accomplishing. Yet, in the midst of it all, we often feel incomplete, lacking, and feeling unfulfilled.
Jesus’ words: irritating or helpful?
For Jesus, the way to fulfillment, contentment, and joy was so clear. To us, maybe his words are a bit irritating or too good to be true. He says come to me and you will find rest and live life abundantly (Matthew 11:28).
Abundant has this connotation of contentment, of an inexhaustible amount of resources at our disposal, of never needing anything because of how much we have. It’s being present to the fact that we have everything. Rest comes easy when this is your reality.
Even though I live in America and have a lot, this isn’t my experience. And I know I'm not alone. Like many of you, I don’t feel the abundance, things keep piling up…rest feels nearly impossible (especially with three kids). So, thinking of Jesus’ words, how do we rest?
4 Questions
In my recent experience, it’s a dive into what you’re doing daily, since so much of our life is built around habits. Habits are the things we do every day, even the things we think about every day. Maybe life won’t stop, but we need to create habits from what we want and God calls us to create pauses amid the pressures of life (Job 37:14/Genesis 2:1-4). The question is, what would it look like for you to re-prioritize, for you to take an inventory of your life, and think:
“What matters?”
“What do I love?”
“What do I want?”
“How do I stop?”
I’m deeply influenced and grateful for a work written by Justin Whitmel Earley. ‘The Common Rule’ is about his experience of this phenomenon in his own life. The busyness and stress of trying to get ahead brought panic attacks, addiction to alcohol, and small bouts of insomnia. This was a man of God, trying to do everything he could to enhance the Kingdom. Yet, it didn’t matter, his life was falling apart.
Pockets of rest
Earley asked himself the questions above, and wrote a rule of life devoted to finding pockets of rest and space with God and others. It changed his life and brought change to many other people.
When we put effort toward God instead of trying to put effort toward all the other responsibilities we have, there’s something inside of us that feels sustained. We can see things more clearly, we’re able to be ourselves, we live with more contentment and gratitude for the things we have. All the other tasks and responsibilities fall into place. It doesn’t mean stress fully disappears, or that there aren’t disappointments or hardships in life. Life will still be tough. However, your frame of reference for those things changes. You start to stop and notice the bigger picture of what God has for you, the places you spend your time in, and for the people you love.
Your next step
Ask yourself the questions above. Walk through them with your spouse, your family, your friends. Habits and following Christ take real effort and self awareness. Faith is a journey, so this isn’t a black and white fix for every pressure in your life.
But, it’s a start. And that’s often what we need to do to bring change.
