Do you rest? Do you find it difficult or easy to take a day off? To take multiple days off? And if/when you do, are you disciplined and able to “turn off” work? To turn your heart and mind towards other things unrelated to what keeps you busy?

To rest or to develop the discipline of rest, discipline being the strength of will and the skill of hand, I have found three components are necessary.

(1) The right disciplines or habits

You get what you repeat. So do you have consistency of rest built into your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routine? Do you take advantage of the vacation time allotted to you? Do you have a day off? Do you turn off your phone? (I have tried many tools and have found Brick to be the most helpful for me.) Do you have consistency or do you leave it to chance or circumstance?

(2) The right outlets

What do you enjoy? What rejuvenates you? What refreshes you? What brings you joy? You can’t create rest, you can only receive it. Strength training and photography are deeps wells of refreshment for me. As are long or short adventures with Levi. I play Madden on my day off. Rest doesn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t be complicated. If you lack an outlet and source of joy and satisfaction for your heart, though, you will find rest impossible.

(3) The right perspective

This is essential for long-term rest. For a heart that is at rest even when you are hard at work. Without this, the right disciplines and outlets will serve you only in the short term. You will rest physically but still be tired and weary of heart. This is the rest beneath the rest. Your body can sleep while your mind and heart are restless. Awake. Rushed. Loud. What matters more than your physical rest is your heart’s perspective on what matters most. Holding the right perspective on what is true and what is most important is essential to finding and enjoying true rest in your life. As Christians, we find our perspective in Christ, from whom, through whom, and for whom all things exist. So, for example, as a pastor, I have to orient myself daily. I have to keep the perspective that the church, the ministries, the resources, the plans, the generations, the leaders, the people – it all belongs to Jesus. None of it belongs to me. I can walk home every day and say, “Jesus, I’m leaving the office now. I give it all to you. Elim Grace doesn’t belong to me. It doesn’t depend upon me. It’s your church. You’re the one building it. I’m going home now.”

Dear Elim Grace, don’t forget to rest. Don’t let your busyness run away from it. Don’t let your worries run away from it. Don’t run faster. Don’t run harder. Learn to rest.

Rest is ultimately a gift you receive, not a reward you earn. We can either receive a gift or reject it. Jesus promises to give us rest from the burdens we carry and sometimes under the burdens we carry. When we rest, we are unburdening the rushing, the stressing, the managing, the worrying onto Him. In return, we receive Him. We rest in Him. We lean on Him. We bow to Him as Lord and King of all, over all, and in all.