On Sunday afternoons I like to nap and I call them my NASCAR naps. I love to nap to the sound of race cars going around a track and waking when the commentator’s voices get excited because something has happened – then back to the nap! Maybe not a nap per say, but rest is an important element to living out your full potential. You are designed to have rest. The Psalmist wrote this: “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.” Ps. 23:2 (NLT)

Lack Of Rest Is Nothing To Brag About

In our fast paced life we often brag about out lack of rest and talk about how we are always going 100 miles per hours living at a break neck pace. It’s as though it makes us feel more important to talk about how we don’t have time to rest. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Why do we do this? One reason is we equate our net worth with our self-worth. The result:  we are busy working and striving and living without the necessary rest we need to live at our peek potential. In my book Life Palette I talk about how God has created you as a masterpiece with a destiny and a purpose. When you consider that fact you must know that He has given you all the time we need to do the things He created you to do and one of those things includes rest.

He Makes Me Rest

I love to watch sheep graze…my grandfather grazed his sheep in a pasture next to our home. They would often start grazing in the early morning hours as the sun was beginning to rise. In the summer as the morning would heat up, they would become tired and thirsty. At about 10 a.m. they would lie down to rest. As a wise shepherd, the Psalmist knew that sheep should not drink when it is hot or when its stomach is full of undigested grass. So the shepherd would make the sheep lie down in a green meadow in the heat of the morning and allow it time to digest its food – time to rest.

In the midst of our busy schedule, our God gives us rest. We must grasp the truth that we are his sheep, He loves us, He knows us…it has nothing to do with how much we do. As The great shepherd He does not laugh at our limitations nor force us to go beyond where they could safely and happily go. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29 in the Message paraphrase: “Are you tired? Are you 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.” My kind of life! And that includes rest – anyone up for a nap?

Join The Discussion:

I would love to know how you feel about rest. Do you feel guilty for getting rest? Taking a day off work? How do you get the rest you need and still get everything done that you feel you need to get done.