Savoring Rest

I have a complicated relationship with rest.

In a season of burnout on the field, I was weary in mind, soul, and body. I didn’t know how to ask for help or explain why I was struggling. Leadership pushed me to get to work and “get out there more.” The message I internalized then was, “You have to earn rest, and you haven’t done enough. You don’t deserve it.”

So I pushed harder, even though trying to minister out of weariness wasn’t actually that helpful to anyone. Other workers around me on the field didn’t seem to need time off. Even if they were tired, they wore it like a badge of honor.

I finally realized that I couldn’t keep going without a regular pattern of pausing. Even though I have developed better rhythms since then, I still sometimes hear that message that I need to earn time to rest. I’m back in my passport country where the rush to fit everything in doesn’t leave much margin for things like Sabbath and time off. All of this makes it challenging to figure out what healthy rest looks like for me.

My local fellowship has been digging into the life of Elijah, and I’ve been surprised by the messages that God has been speaking to my heart about rest through his story. We normally think of Elijah’s mountaintop experience, his showdown on Mount Carmel where he called down fire against impossible odds.

When Elijah enters the scene in 1 Kings 17, we don’t know much about him, but he starts things off with a bang. He goes up against the powers, telling King Ahab that God would stop the rains for three years.

If we were writing the story, we might go from this emotional high right to the next big thing. Instead, God sends Elijah into a season of solitude.

I have so many questions for Elijah. How did he spend his time as he waited for his daily provision from the ravens? Did he worry that the brook from which he drew water would dry up? He had just made a big pronouncement about the drought that was coming after all. Was he lonely? Did he take naps?

As I keep coming back to 1 Kings 17 and Elijah’s story, there are truths that are helping me think about the way I need to savor rest in my own life.

Separation

When we intentionally take time to rest, we open up our hands to release the things we have been carrying—the people we are serving, the tasks that need to be completed, the questions about the future—and entrust them to God’s care. As we separate ourselves from whatever demands our attention, there can be a sense of loss. But what might God be inviting us to in that space that is created by rest?

We most likely won’t be entering an extended season of complete separation like Elijah did, but what does it look like to create that margin for God to come down and work? Perhaps it is intentionally separating ourselves from social media to give our minds and hearts rest and create space for time with the Lord. It could be a Sabbath day or part of a day where the gate stays locked or we slip into our bedroom for an hour of solitude. Is there a way that God is calling you to separation?

Provision

Rest teaches me that I can trust my Jehovah Jireh, the God who will provide. I step back and recognize, yet again, that it is not all up to me—and that humbles me. This shouldn’t be novel, right? And yet I can start to feel a responsibility that is not mine to take on. Setting it all down reminds me that God is at work in ways I can’t see.

Out in the middle of nowhere, God sent ravens to bring Elijah food. These birds are typically greedy, and they don’t return to one place very often. The little brook where Elijah hid away wasn’t a flowing river that might have resisted the drought effects for longer.

Yet in this place, Elijah had what he needed. And as we learn to savor rest, we find that God can surprise us with his provision in more ways than we could even imagine.

I’m not there yet, sisters. I’m actively learning to pause regularly, which helps me be more intentional about the work I’m called to do. I trust that the God who tenderly cared for Elijah will meet me with his kindness and love as I let go and savor rest.

What lessons has God taught you about the value of savoring rest?