You wake up on a Monday morning with a busy day ahead. Work, school or some variant of this awaits. Coffee in hand, you set out to attack the day as curve balls already begin to zoom your way. End of day hits and you missed a meal, didn’t finish your to-do list and are too tired to address the pile of laundry waiting to be washed. Heading to bed, you blink and wake up to Tuesday morning, needing to do it all again.
This is the life so many of us live. We’re never caught up, we’ve never done enough and we’ve always forgotten something. Even for those of us who love what we wake up to, we’re a generation worn down by doing. We want to rest but we’ve forgotten what it even looks like, what it means and how necessary and needed it is. In the moments we take to sit down and breathe, our phone buzzes with another reminder and we’re off to the races once again.
How do we find rest?
Keep the main thing the main thing. What is most important to you? What does it look like to keep those most important things as your priority? Answer these questions in your own life and allow them to become non-negotiable. Ensure you keep the main thing the main thing by letting everything else fill in your schedule only after the most important things.
Remember that rest is necessary for a long-term win and keep that perspective. We live in an instant-gratification world that’s wrapped up in quick decisions. When it’s easy to yield to the pressures and expectations of “now,” lay down the idea that everything must happen immediately. Instead, remember that one of the most human things about you is that you can’t do or handle or be it all. Surrender to this reality and let your heart find rest.
Enjoy something every day. Oftentimes, I forget to keep the main thing the main thing. I regularly give in to the idea that I should be more than I am; do more than I can…essentially I give in to the idea that I should be some kind of superwoman. Life continues to pick up the pace and not only do I struggle to find rest, I struggle just to survive. To combat this, I regularly remind myself that I wasn’t created only to make it through, but to live abundantly in Christ. In the midst of a typical busy day, I try and remember to take pleasure in what it is I’m doing. Because rest is more than getting enough sleep, it’s also maintaining perspective in everything you do.
The thing is, life is busy these days. No matter how tired you become, there’s just no rest for the weary…you wake up every day with more to do.
However, in the midst of the crazy, we can find rest for our souls as we prioritize what’s most important to us, let the pressure of now roll off our shoulders and enjoy the moments we’ve been given.
