Ok, so if you know me at all, you’ll see the title of this post and immediately be curious if I have any idea what I’m talking about. And for those of you who don’t know me all that well – I don’t rest the way many people rest. In this post we’ll look at rest and try to determine if there is a right and wrong way to rest.

First let’s look at the word rest. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word – rest? In all likelihood, if you’re like many in our culture, you see a nap on a quiet afternoon. Maybe you see curling up by the fireplace with a good book. But not all rest is created equal. What is rest for you may very well be nothing close to rest for the next person!

If everyone rests differently, then are there certain traits that good rest has? How do I know what my best form of rest is? And how do I rest if the normal napping thing doesn’t seem to be my nap language? 

As we seek a better understanding of rest, it might be helpful to share a paraphrase of a few verses from the bible with you. This comes from the Message paraphrase which is a wonderfully different way of reading a bible text.

28-30 “Are you tired? 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.”

Notice something in this section – the phrase unforced rhythms of grace. That is a powerful phrase that has a deep meaning to it. For those of us who seek rest in strange and creative ways… For those who struggle with the idea of napping or taking an afternoon siesta, this is a freeing way to look at rest.

First there is the acknowledgment that life comes in rhythms. This means that some seasons of life are jam-packed with to-do’s and tasks that simply need immediate attention. It means that some seasons we will have to be very creative in finding rest. But it also means that other times rest will come a lot easier. It’s about rhythms. Life has its ebbs and flows and so should our schedule of activity.

But there’s a word before rhythms that is often overlooked here – unforced. All too often in our lives we try to force rest on ourselves or others. We think that everyone has to rest the same way. So we push our children to take a nap. We can’t understand why our spouse is heading to the gym when they just finished saying how exhausted they were. We miss the point of unforced! These unforced rhythms are great when you know the things that bring you happiness and relief.

So what are your unforced rhythms? What are the things that help you disconnect from stress and reconnect with the life that truly life? The point of our rest is to find new life. For those of who are followers of Jesus, that new life is found in Christ. For us, it’s resting in ways that allow us to reconnect with Jesus. Learn the unforced rhythms of life. Now admittedly there’s a lot more to this passage than we’ve covered but just look at those couple of words and ponder for a minute or two how you can rest in an unforced and rhythmic way.

Go ahead, take that nap if that’s your rest language. Hit the weights if that’s how you destress. Run if you’re one of those crazy people. Read a book. Play with your children. Do the thing that lets you disconnect so you can reconnect.