What if it's time to rest?

I've been thinking of how we rush through our lives and days somehow turn into years later. It amazes me how time does fly and part of that is because we're in a hurry. We jump to the next season, the next thing on the horizon, and rush from event to event.

I tried a portion of this lifestyle and I simply could not sustain it. Many people are great at running at the speed of light and can seem to somehow keep going through their busy schedules. My nervous system has not allowed me to do that. I have no idea how long I was functioning with high levels of cortisol, but eventually it, "hit the fan" as they say. I was lacking in relationships as I felt like I gave them just a small fraction of my energy tank. I thought I could keep going because, "I'm young. I'm strong. I can do this." Which part of that is true, but also eventually it did start to show up in my health. God led me to what needed to be tended to and helped me to find a way to let go of that lifestyle. He gave me numerous blessings to help me heal and move on from the hurried way of life. I'm still recovering so don't think that I'm all "fixed" now because I'm not. Recovering from high levels of stress doesn't take just a few months to heal from as I'm sure many of you know.

I'm thankful for God answering my prayers and that my days do not look the way they used to even if they were good things I was doing...like working in a certain setting of ministry.

So, let me ask you this, what if it's time to rest?

I've seen how the church is incredible at creating and cultivating the hurried culture. "Do more" seems to be the motto in so many churches. "We need you here and there." Okay, but what if some people are just trying to heal? What if some people are running from burnt out or were in the hospital from an anxiety attack because they've been running 100mph a day? What if the last thing they need right now is to do just one more thing? What if rest is the answer right now as sometimes church just needs to be the place to breathe and heal?

I get it that churches run off of help and people putting in their time. I get that, but what would it look like if the church regularly said, "We're going to rest together." "We're going to say, "no" to more things and simply rest in the Lord's presence for this time period." Wouldn't our souls do so much better if we collectively rested well together as a body? Wouldn't we be able to hear our own thoughts again and even the sound of our own breath?

I can hear you now saying that it's just not possible with, "this" or "that." I hear that and I empathize with you, but what if we cut out what we needed to say ,"no" to? The world actually can function without us. We do not have to hold all the plates in the air. God is sovereign. He doesn't sleep when we do. He's always moving on our behalf. We can lay our burdens at His feet. We do have the power to say, "no" and look like the odd ones in the hustle culture. We do not have to do everything. Saying, "no" to good things, even like parts of ministry, might actually be what you need to do. I know that sounds crazy for the hustle, church culture, but trust me when I say that God doesn't need us to be everywhere all the time. That's what God does, not us. He's Omnipresent. Jesus did not live a hustled, stressful, overbooked life here on earth. He trusted the Father to help Him to know what to do and what not to do.

I quote this verse often so you might not be surprised by this, but Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message translation says: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

This is the way of life with Jesus here on earth! This isn't saying to do more, be more, and work yourself into the ground. Say "yes" when Jesus says to go, and say "no" when you know in your heart that you simply cannot do that thing even if you could squeeze some energy into it.

When I think in light of eternity: fear, stress, anxiety, worry, and shame have literally no significance. We have been sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit. None of those things honestly matter when the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is literally living inside of us. His Spirit is living inside of us, why do we let things like stress take over our lives like massive weights around our feet?

Romans 8:11 says, "And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you"

Remember, this is coming from the girl who has wrestled with anxiety, has an anxious nervous system, and struggled with high cortisol levels. I am not wagging a finger at you...I'm rather raising my banner saying, "Please say, "no" before your health or whatever it is catches up to you." It can be so scary to say, "no" when as Christians we are taught to be the helpers. I think we've taken this too far and missed out on the true way of life with Jesus. Burnt out and utterly exhausted was not how Jesus lived His life. Isn't it amazing how Jesus was also God and could have done whatever He wanted, yet He didn't do it all? He chose to set limits. He chose to have 12 close people in His everyday life with a inner circle of 3. (Research shows we can only have 3-5 really close people in our everyday lives.) If the Creator of the world knew when to rest then shouldn't we?

So I'm asking you to take a look at your life. Can you cut things out that simply drain you? Can you even cut things out that fulfill you but are just way too much for you too handle right now? Can you even say no to ministry if God is saying, "Come rest with me"? Can you say, "no" to something if your calendar looks incredibly packed? Can you say "no" if your body is asking you to sleep more and even eat better?

Pray and let yourself get wisdom from Jesus who gets what it's like to be a human. Walk towards paths of peace and find rest for your weary soul. I'm telling you that your family, your relationships, and your body will be grateful you chose to say "no."