Tag: physical rest

31 Days: Practising the Rhythm of Rest

  

As we come to the end of this series on the Rhythm of Rest, I hope that you’ve enjoyed it and have found something helpful for your own situation. It’s been a pleasure and privilege to explore this theme with you, and wonderful to hear from some of you about how it has blessed you. I would also like to point you towards some other resources that you may find helpful as you continue to explore and establish the rhythm of rest.

This is a list of books I have either read or plan to read, that explore rest in some way:

If you know of any other books worth reading please let me know in the Comments.

  

The following music has been meaningful to me and I share this list in the hope that you may also find it helpful:

  • “Come to me” by Bethel Music & Jenn Johnson (on the album The Loft Sessions)
  • “Dwell” by Aaron Keyes (on the album Dwell)
  • “Receive” by Brian Morykon (on the album The Smallest Seed)
  • “Rest in me” by Ann-Maree Keefe (on the album Cryptology)
  • “Restless” by Audrey Assad (on the album The House You’re Building)
  • “You speak” by Audrey Assad (on the album Fortunate Fall)
  • “Worn” by Tenth Avenue North (on the album The Struggle)

(These songs are also available individually on iTunes.)

I’m also appreciating the music of Alberto & Kimberly Rivera (I’ve been listening to their albums Yearnings and Live Soaking Sessions, Vol 1 but there are plenty of others to explore).

Finally, let me bless you in the name of Jesus, to experience glorious refreshing rest and joy in his presence. May you learn the life-sustaining rhythms of work and rest as you walk with the Lord. And may you flourish in the fullness of his love for you.

The Rhythm of Rest
This is Day 31 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).

Image credits: morguefile.com

31 Days: Make every effort to enter God’s rest

 

We’re really just beginning to experience God’s rest, but there is so much more that awaits us when we respond in faith. This is God’s promise to us if we don’t give up – perfect rest with him. Rest from trouble, conflict, pain, sorrow and death. No more hunger, no more thirst, no more tears. Instead joy, refreshment and satisfaction in his presence. Isn’t that something immeasurably precious? That’s our homecoming, our eternal inheritance.

These words keep ringing in our ears:

Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising. 

For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed. 

For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said, 

Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.” 

God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,” but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.” So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: 

Today, please listen, don’t turn a deaf ear . . .

And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.

Hebrews 3:14-4:11 (The Message)


The Rhythm of Rest

This is Day 30 of The Rhythm of Rest (Write 31 Days challenge).

Image credit: morguefile.com

31 Days: Sleeping in the storm

Matthew 8:23-27

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

In the Mark (4:37-38) account of this event we find that “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.”

Jesus is a man who knows how to rest! He takes the opportunity that presents itself – a cushion in the back of a boat. It doesn’t sound all that comfortable at the best of times. So how is it that Jesus could sleep in a sinking boat in the middle of a violent storm? I find this hard to get my head around, but I also find myself concluding that although probably very tired at the end of the day, Jesus was also a man fully at peace, trusting and resting in the Father.

The disciples who were experienced fishermen had no doubt faced storms before, but this one must have been extremely bad to frighten them so much. When they woke Jesus, shouting at him to save them from drowning, they must have expected that he could in fact save them! It’s unclear how, because they certainly weren’t expecting him to still the storm.

Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, and it seems apparent that they still didn’t fully comprehend who he really was.

What about us? What is our faith like? What is our response to the storms of life? Do we become worried or afraid? Or do we remember that Jesus is in the boat with us, and put our trust in him?

The Rhythm of Rest

This is Day 29 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).

Image credit: morguefile.com

31 Days: Rest in the rhythm of ebbs and flows

Port Elliot
I came across this description of God at work that seemed so relevant to this series that I wanted to share it with you. It comes from a book called The Grace Outpouring by Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts about the wonderful things God is doing in and through Ffald-y-Brenin, a Christian retreat centre in West Wales.

She just looked at me and said. “Can I share a word with you? God says that he works with you in ebbs and flows, and you get worried with the ebb. He is working in ebbs and flows with you so that his work is sustainable. And he allows the ebbs in order for you to consolidate and rest, take a deep breath, have time to rest and sleep, catch up on all the ordinary things that need to be done. This is so that you are able to sustain things during the next flow. This is God’s plan and pattern of working with you.”

I thought about the ebb and flow, how the tide comes crashing in and sliding out. I thought about how we breathe in and out, our cycles of minutes and hours, days, weeks, months and years. The cycles of sun and moon, and seasons. 

Music, dancing, walking, running – they all need rhythm. It seems to me that there is rhythm throughout God’s creation – a gift of grace to sustain it.

The nature of rhythm includes rest. It is a gift of grace to sustain us.

The Rhythm of Rest
This is Day 28 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).

31 Days: Some practical ideas for ways to rest

I’ve been writing about the importance of rest for three weeks now, so let’s get practical for a few minutes. Rest is good. We need rest. But how do we make rest a priority, when it feels like we’ll fall off the treadmill of life and hurt ourselves if we try to slow down or even stop?

There’s always something (usually a lot of things) demanding our attention, our time and our energy.

Well I can’t tell you what you should do. I don’t know what your situation is like, what commitments you have, whether you’d happily curl up with a good book or stare at the ocean if you had the time, or whether you get antsy if you sit down for longer than five minutes at a time. Only you know that.

Making time for rest is not likely to come easily or naturally, and it will probably mean that you have to make it a priority over something else. You may need to sacrifice something you like doing but that doesn’t actually refresh you, or something you think you ‘need’ to do before you’re allowed to rest. You may need to leave some things undone or unfinished until after you’ve rested. If you aren’t used to giving yourself time to rest, you may need to start small as you get used to giving yourself permission to make rest a priority.

(Just quietly, if your skin started crawling at the very idea of leaving something unfinished or undone in order to rest, it just may be the most important thing you need.)

Rest

So here a few ideas for ways to rest. Use whatever is helpful for sparking your own ideas. One important thing to consider when choosing ways to rest, is whether they are life-giving for you, whether you feel refreshed. You might love watching movies and back-to-back episodes of your favourite tv series on Netflix, but if they’re not refreshing you, maybe that’s entertainment and not rest.

Some of these ideas may take a few minutes during your work day, some could take a whole day on the weekend. It’s up to you.

  • take a walk along the beach or in a park
  • sit on a bench and watch the world go by
  • read a good book
  • pray, read scripture, and listen for how the Lord might be speaking to you
  • sleep – yay!
  • cook something you love to eat – share it with friends or family
  • write in a journal (maybe in your favourite coffee shop)
  • stretch
  • lay on the floor and listen to your favourite music
  • catch up for coffee or a meal with a good friend
  • take a break from your electronic devices (yes, mobile phone, tablet, laptop, computer – whatever is dragging you along at warp speed to keep up with the world)
  • sit in your favourite chair, close your eyes and listen for the Lord’s whisper (you might need some solitude for this one)
  • do something creative – draw, paint, take photographs, sew or knit, play music (however you like to express your unique creativity)
  • drink more water (note to self!)
  • take regular breaks at work (use an egg timer or an app to remind you to stop and stretch or do something else for a few minutes – try the Pomodoro technique)

I’d love to hear some of your ideas for rest. Drop me a line in the Comments.

Happy resting!

The Rhythm of Rest

This is Day 22 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).

Image credit: morguefile.com