Rest Is Not a Luxury Item

Rest is not a luxury item.

Sometimes we hold a narrow view of rest that focuses on self-care rituals and vacations. This perspective puts rest in the luxury item column and implies that rest needs ideal circumstances to occur.

But what about rest in our imperfect moments? What about rest when our world breaks? When someone we love dies. When a relationship ends? When a diagnosis arrives? When natural disasters and destruction strike? When violence, injustice, and suffering escalate in our world, in our community, or in our own home?

How do we rest then? Why even make it a priority when it feels like a luxury to pause in the middle of the pain to rest?

In the moments when our world breaks (or our world breaks us), that’s when we need rest the most. And not the kind of rest found in a hammock, but the rest found in the Lord. The rest found in Him is a necessity not a luxury.

When we choose to rest in Him and His promises for a future beyond our current sufferings, He will hold us steady. When life threatens to shake us to our core, the Lord will put our feet on solid ground. When we choose to rest in Him.

We can choose to see rest as the world does, as a luxury item to indulge in under the perfect circumstances. Or we can choose to see rest as the Lord does, a time to trust in Him and be strengthened by Him.

”I might rest in the day of trouble.
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength.
Habakkuk 3:16b-19a NKJV

Need more rest? Join the club.

Well, it’s not an actual club with a free secret decoder ring, but you will receive a digital download of my 4-Day Devotional, Simplifying Rest, as a free gift. Plus, the 4th of each month I’ll send you 4 resources to help you get the rest you need. YES! I need more rest!