Rest as a rhythm, not a reward

We live in a world that glorifies busyness. Schedules are packed to the brim, and any pause is filled with scrolling, notifications, or noise. We’re conditioned to believe that if we aren’t constantly achieving, consuming, or broadcasting, we’re somehow falling behind.

For me, this mentality leads to stress, anxiety, and burn-out. In every conversation that starts ‘how are you?’ or ‘how was your week?’, ‘busy’ is my standard issue response. And it’s so easy for these exchanges to spiral into an unspoken competition – who has the most commitments, who’s running on the least sleep, whose to-do list is the longest. Being busy has become a measure of my identity, as though my worth is determined by how much I can juggle at once.

But here’s the truth I keep coming back to: being human involves limits. We’re made to need physical and spiritual rest – and that’s not failure. That’s grace. Physical rest reminds us we are not all-powerful. And spiritual rest reminds us we are not in control.

Our culture has turned to self-care as the antidote to burnout. We’re encouraged to schedule bubble baths, eat mindfully, book spa days, and practice meditation. And while these practices aren’t bad in themselves, the why matters.

At its best, self-care seeks to honor our continual need for restoration. But much of the modern movement centers the self as both the problem and the solution. The pressure is on me to heal myself, fix myself, restore myself.

Biblical rest, on the other hand, doesn’t rely on the self. It relies on God.

In the book of Genesis, God wove a rhythm of rest into creation. He worked for six days to create the world and rested on the seventh – not because He was tired, but to establish a pattern for us to follow. A pattern designed to help us flourish. A pattern promising that we are not sustained by our own labor, but by His provision.

In the Bible, rest is not a reward for productivity – it’s a commandment rooted in love. It's not something we earn once we've ‘done enough’. God doesn’t say, ‘you’ve worked hard, now you’ve earned this break’. He says, ‘you can stop, because I am still working’.

This kind of rest is countercultural. It is an act of faith.

In a world that tells us to treat ourselves, God calls us to entrust ourselves – to Him. Our need for rest, both physical and spiritual, is a daily reminder of our dependence on Him. Physical rest may nourish the body, but it points to a deeper need: soul-deep rest in the presence of the One who sustains us.

So, while a massage or nap might soothe the body, Biblical rest goes deeper. It restores the soul.

And it doesn’t require retreating to a monastery or taking a week-long vacation. It doesn’t necessarily mean the storm outside isn’t still raging. But I can choose to lean my spirit into the arms of a God who holds it all.

Chaos might be the context of my life, but peace can be the posture of my heart. Even when physical rest isn’t possible, spiritual rest still is. Because spiritual rest doesn’t come from emptying my schedule – it comes from anchoring my soul in God, who simply invites me, in all my weariness, to come to Him. And there He gives me rest.