Finding Rest in God, Hope for the Weary

I’m a Busy Bee. That’s what my husband calls me—constantly buzzing. But that’s not who I am; that’s just what I do. Read below to know how God has taught me that it is His will and pleasure for His children to find rest in Him.

GOD'S PROMISESGROWING IN FAITHSPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

Mildred White

9/28/20265 min read

I am inherently driven. Driven by to-do lists, small and big ideas, or small and big projects. I fill myself with achievements, challenges, and problem-solving feats. The more challenging a task is, the more consumed I become by it.

This never-ending, task-oriented lifestyle is fueled by my need for achievement. That’s what inspires me—taking an idea and making it happen. It’s a fire in my belly that excites me and gives my life meaning.

But sometimes, I need a break.

God did not create people to be machines. This is not how the Lord wants me to live my life—being constantly busy and constantly working.

Lately, I’ve found myself burning out. It was subtle but evident. Speaking to my husband with an attitude is not like me, but I did it, and it was a red flag. I didn’t even notice it until he pointed it out to me. That is not how I want to be, but that’s how I’m becoming—a busy bee with a mean attitude.

I am aware that sleeping 4–5 hours every night to work on my side hustle is not sustainable or healthy. But that’s what I have been doing, and I keep working as long as there is an ounce of energy left in my body.

I believe God is trying to get my attention. His will for me is to be healthy and not be overly consumed by the things of this world. My pleasure-seeking attitude is of the flesh and not of God.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
1 John 2:15

“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.”
Psalm 127:2

These verses are talking to me. All of my toiling will be in vain if I don’t listen to what God is telling me. As His child, He has promised me rest if I dwell in His presence.

And this made me ask myself:

How should my identity in Christ direct my passion and drive?

Why am I still living as if doing more work would make me feel good about myself? And if I don’t achieve my goal, why does that make me feel like a failure?

I need to understand why I think like this when I know that seeking the things of this world makes me feel exhausted, but seeking the Lord’s presence gives me rest and peace.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

In Psalm 91, dwelling in God’s presence is closely connected with finding rest and security in Him.

Let us dwell in His presence. This is not a visit, nor a quick courtesy call. To dwell means to inhabit, to abide, to find a permanent home.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:4

To rest is to find peace, to be still, and to settle our hearts in God.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest... and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-30

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Psalm 62:1-2

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength… Isaiah 30:15

The Lord wants us to dwell and rest in Him. These words also have a cause-and-effect relationship. If we dwell in Him, we will find rest. This means taking a pause from everything that takes our attention and affection; and to give God ample time so we can talk to Him, praise and appreciate all that He is doing in our lives.

If we do this, we will find renewed strength, peace and joy when we go back to the work God has assigned us to do.

I thought about this some more and saw two things that pull me away from wanting to rest – self-indulgence and fear of losing control.

Self-indulgence because I feel good about myself when I’m working. And when we feel good about something we tend to do more of it to the point of exhaustion. Is that true of you?

I fill myself with work until I can’t work anymore in the name of productivity and pleasure. But I noticed that the more I worked, the less effective I am in what I’m doing. Sounds counterproductive, right?

This reminds me of the law of diminishing returns: adding more effort without taking a pause eventually leads to fatigue and declining effectiveness.

Fear of losing control. I have to fight this false belief that if I take a pause, I will miss out on an opportunity or that my business will fall apart. It’s hard to give up control. But the Lord reminds me that everything holds together in Him. He allows me to rest. In fact, He is pleased when I take time to rest.

So why am I sharing this? Because God cares about you. God is not only concerned about our spiritual salvation, but He also cares for our body. He heals it and makes it whole. And when there are red flags like what I saw in my attitude towards my husband, we should take heed. God is telling us something. He wants us to rest and trust that God holds our life together and nothing will fall to the ground as we take a pause from work.

I’m not saying to drop everything without planning. What I’m saying is we must be intentional, take regular breaks, not wait for our condition to worsen so that taking a break suddenly becomes an emergency. Intentional rest does not mean abandoning our responsibilities.

God knew that rest was good for His children that He included it in the Ten Commandments:

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

Also in Mark 2:27:

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

And I’m happy to share that today, after coming home from work, and giving Mikey (my son) his snack, instead of getting on my computer to start working on my side hustle, I took a nap. Man, I needed that!

What are your thoughts about rest?

How can you be intentional in taking a break from all your activities?

Who do you need support from so you can rest?

Have you gotten some rest from work lately?

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