Living from a Place of Rest
One of the hardest lessons I just learned and am still learning is to live from a place of rest. It is something that Holy Spirit has been highlighting to me recently. I was doing a random thing one day and He said, “I want you to live from a place of rest.”
Now, I had no idea what that was supposed to look like. But let me take you on a short journey of what I learned. To tell you where I am now, I need to tell you where I was and the reason the Lord was shifting me to this new revelation for my life.
For a long time now, longer than I can even share in this blog I have struggled with depression, exhaustion, and an overwhelmed life from divorce, raising kids alone and other life issues. Too many to name here.
People who know me, know I am pretty transparent and that is what makes my ministry work as a biblical insight coach so intriguing and how I touch lives of women. But I have been struggling in a lot of areas and couldn’t talk to anyone. Not that people wouldn’t listen but I didn’t try to talk to anyone for fear they wouldn’t understand or judge me. So, I stayed quiet.
I Wasn’t Living From a Place of Rest
I was spiraling with overwhelm honestly. Just felt completely worn out with life, trying to work on my business and grow it and keep up with life. It’s been painfully hard. Now I know y’all have hard too. I get it. But I had been in hard for over 14 yrs and everything about me seemed to be changing.
I just couldn’t keep up. Maybe you’ve experienced not being able to turn your mind off.
All of these are signs you need to rest. I needed time away from work, from life, from kids, from cooking, just everything you can name I needed a break. But a break wasn’t coming anytime soon. At least not that I could see.
I needed time from my work to remember who I was. Needed to be renewed and refreshed. I needed to work from a place of rest. But how?
What is Rest?
Rest is more than going home and binging on television or a box of cookies in bed. It is more than going to dinner with friends and laughing. Rest is about renewing yourself and that, honestly, can only be done in Christ.
You have to come to the one who is Rest, Jesus. I looked at my life after I thought about what God said to me and realized I was so busy I had not been spending time at His feet getting renewed. I needed Sabbath rest.
Resting is about communing with God. It is about your spirit being connected to His. It is about pouring out yourself and filling back up with Him. Resting is about getting the deepest needs of your soul met with Him, nothing else.
Related Post: Are You Really Resting?
3 Keys to Living from a Place of Rest
1.) Relinquish control.
Rest is you not being in control anymore. You must surrender your rights when you rest and just rest. It is time that you are not in control. You have work and work is good but you need to pull back from work and not be in control of that time. Rest will stop work from being first in your life and possibly becoming an idol to you. We all need to pull back from work and rest breaks the work cycle. Something I was finding difficult to do.
2.) See rest as worship.
Rest is a time to come to God and acknowledge Him for who He is and all that He has done in your life. It’s time you spend with God not really asking anything but a heart to be made new and refreshed. For me this was taking a weekly Sabbath.
3.) Rest is freedom.
Rest is freedom from stress and work and a time to get renewed and go back to work for His glory. God honors work but not burnt out. When He said to me to live from a place of rest, He meant get renewed and refreshed and then go back to work. Live in that rhythm that flow.
Starting from a Place of Rest Makes a Difference
I will say when I began to live with a weekly sabbath, turning off my world and entering into His world the freedom from burnout came and I was able to return to work things with vigor and life. Things became easier and peace returned.
Rest is different for everyone. What worked for me may not work for you. Maybe resting in His presence for you is journaling or singing. Maybe rest is gardening and talking to God while you dig.
Whatever rest is for you, take the time to rest and live from that place. Live from that place of renewal everyday and never look back.
50 Things to Know About Sabbath
Why Taking a Rest is Important
This eBook will help you see why you need to add a day of rest into your life and how you can get more done with only six days a week. It will help you to not live on the edge of time and walk in stress. 50 Things to Know about Sabbath by Stephanie M. Carter offers an approach to resting in your life that will bring you more rewards than you can imagine.
