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As summer speeds up, this prayer releases guilt and receives rest as God’s gift.
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
SOMETHING TO PONDER
I never thought rest was a gift. As someone with high-functioning anxiety and depression, I treated it like the eleventh plague, just after the locusts, eternal darkness, and death of Pharaoh’s firstborn. But in Psalm 127:2 and Psalm 23:2-3, we read that rest is a gift God created for all people. Genesis 2:3 even notes, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (NIV).
The funny thing about this scripture is that we as Christians seem to pick out everything we love about the Creation story and discount what we don’t. We’re thankful that God created the sun, moon, and stars, people and animals alike, but when it comes to resting, we seem to eliminate that like an optional topping we’d rather not have. But is that right? Is that holy? Is that biblical?
Today, the Sabbath is becoming more and more popular, but not because more people are choosing to participate in it, but because they’re being forced to. Burnout, anxiety, and depression are at an all-time high, and while restlessness isn’t the top culprit, it’s surely something to take note of.
When we believe that rest is something we should feel guilty for, we’re abandoning one of God’s most important commands: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8, NIV). We’re also exchanging the gift and command of rest for a lie: That we have to work or produce something to be worthy of rest.
Friends, I’ve spent way too much time believing this lie. I don’t want you to fall victim to the same trap. Because establishing a routine rhythm of rest isn’t just what’s best for us; it’s what’s necessary for abundant and fruitful living.