How to Rest in a Relentless World

The department that tracks my psychology practice reports five—no, six—active items for me to pursue. And the department that oversees my personal affairs waves an even longer list of reminders in my face, including the urgent pay your car insurance!!

If we could somehow compare memos, you and I, perhaps I could learn about how cramped your own to-do list is, or are, if you also have multiple lists going at once. I have a friend who has a list for her to-do lists. Perhaps you approach life just like this friend.

Ours is a world with endless demands on our time.

So how can anyone rest when life in the 21^st century jostles us to go go go?

Like with every other question, the first stop is God. Let’s check what He has to say.

Judging from His Word, God places a premium on rest. He modeled it Himself by creating everything in six days while taking the seventh off (Genesis 2:2-3). He designed our bodies with the built-in need to spend roughly one-third of our lives sleeping. He even gave us permission to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:1).

Since the Word never expires (Matthew 24:35), today’s harried individuals pressed for time can claim this tantalizing offer of rest.

But how?

Here are four steps to get us started.

1. Strive for It

God’s invitation to rest sounds refreshing. As paradoxical as this may sound, however, entering His rest takes work. This comforting break won’t happen unless we chase it with intentionality because, as we discussed earlier, the pressure to perform never pauses.

This means fighting to preserve pockets of rest is something we need to be proactive about.

This isn’t my opinion. I learned it from the Word. Notice the following exhortation: “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:11).

Compare the NIV above to a few other translations:

• “We should do our best to enter the place of rest” (CEV)
• “May we be diligent, then, to enter into that rest” (LSV)
• “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest” (KJV).

Did you get the thrust of the passage—that it’s up to you and me to pursue this goal? Rest won’t float down like some intangible manna.

So, let’s instill the following mentality: work is important, as is every bullet point on our to-do lists.

But so is rest.

2. Repose

Some might call lounging with Netflix relaxing, especially if the movie isn’t adrenaline-pumping or blood-curdling. Maybe munching on buttered popcorn counts as R&R—particularly when compared to crunching numbers, cutting hair, or some other occupation.

Even so, watching movies is not the only way to rest.

Resting means a complete, though temporary, cessation of activities. Since we are simultaneously spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23), true rest means giving each of our compartments this period of cessation.

Let’s spell out what this means for our entire personhood.

• Your body needs regular—and enough—sleep.
• Your mind and emotions can benefit from a vacation. Or, considering how inflation might intensify your anxiety over travel costs, a staycation.
• It’s tragic that most people—including Christians—stop at this point, as though resting your body and soul is good enough. But our spirit needs rest, too. And one satisfying way to seek spiritual rest is by getting lost in worship.

When was the last time you turned on worship music and uplifted Jesus with abandon? The answer might indicate how long it has been since your spirit felt rested.

3. Retool

Ever since I instituted the following change, I’ve had to apologize to loved ones for the delay in responding to them, but I refuse to backtrack.

I turned off text notifications.

This means, at times, I would get—and reply to—texts much later. Hours, and sometimes days, after the senders whooshed off their messages to me.

This slight adjustment has ushered serene peace into my soul. Good riddance to annoying pings and attention-grabbing green dots on my screen every time a new text arrives.

What about you? Review your daily life. Is it natural for you to be pulled every which way all the time? If the little orb in the pinball machine gets more rest than you, consider implementing hard boundaries around your texting, emailing, and social media behavior.

Plus one possible area.

COVID forced the world to adjust to new ways of living, including by working from home. If this describes you, cordon off the rest of your life from work intrusion. Decide to stop devoting time—or attention—to your work after a certain hour each day. Create a buffer so you can transition from work to personal time.

4. Repent

Did you know there’s a direct correlation between repentance and refreshment? That’s what Acts 3:19 reveals: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Repent means changing your mind by accepting the will of God on the issue.

While the details of our repentance vary, I’m positive all of us need to repent over this same issue at one point or another: breaking the fourth commandment. “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days, you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it, you shall not do any work...” (Deuteronomy 5:12-14).

How many times have we dismissed this commandment as irrelevant, even though God instituted it for our benefit (Mark 2:27)?

In Subversive Sabbath, A.J. Swoboda cites an experiment the French made in 1793. They thought extending the week—from 7 to 10 days—would boost productivity. To reflect this change, people responded by inventing new calendars and clocks.

Oh, the horrid outcome.

Productivity plummeted. People burned out. Suicide rates skyrocketed.

This doomed experiment proves God designed humanity with a built-in limit. He crafted us to withstand six days of work per week and not a day more.

Time to Rest

Author and speaker Sam Allberry noted that neglecting rest is “often a sign that we are not truly trusting God enough to stop working.” Just as God expects us to thrive with 90% of our income and surrender the rest to Him, He also expects us to squeeze work into six days and sanctify the seventh for His use.

I say it’s time for us to take this matter seriously. If making a living has been swindling Sabbaths from you, repent for not trusting God enough, like the quote above says. But even if your reason for skipping Sabbath has nothing to do with money—maybe because you’re responsible for an infirmed or elderly family member—the instruction remains the same.

Repent.

Irrespective of how busy we are, resting is a mandate we’d best follow.

On that note, let me bid you adieu.

It’s now time for me to rest.

Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Choreograph 

Dr. Audrey Davidheiser is a licensed psychologist in California, certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist, and IFSI-approved clinical consultant. After founding a counseling center for the Los Angeles Dream Center, she now provides IFS therapy for trauma survivors, including those with religious trauma, and assists in IFS trainings. She has been a regular writer for Crosswalk.com and columnist for iBelieve.com. Her book on how IFS helps the grieving process, Wholehearted Grieving, will be published by InterVarsity Press in 2025.