S6: E133 Rest in the Chaos

 Season Six

Episode 133

Rest in the Chaos

Welcome to the Afternoon Ti Podcast!  I’m your host Jessica Grant.  Today I’m sharing thoughts on rest and after the year we’ve had, I hope you’re making time for rest this holiday season.  This episode is simplified more than most without much of an introduction, intro or outro music, and instead includes just a few thoughts.  Why?  Because as much as I want to consistently put out content that I hope is useful and encouraging, I’m choosing over the next two weeks to simplify even more so that I can rest.  And that meant choosing to streamline so that editing was easier and I could share a few thoughts about something that I’m working to prioritize the next few weeks:  rest.

Rest can look different to each of us.  Maybe you feel rejuvenated after spending time with others in conversation or actively doing something with someone else.  Maybe you feel rested after having a favorite food, reading a book, or doing something quiet.  Maybe you want to be alone or be with your favorite people.  

For me, resting means that I don’t have to feel bad for choosing to do something that is fun, but doesn’t produce anything except for a relaxed outcome and an enjoyable experience.  I do really well if I have goals in front of me and I feel guilt if I’m not actively working towards something that I would describe as meaningful or productive.  

One of my favorite authors is Jennie Allen.  She’s written books like Restless and a new one this past year called Get Out of Your Head.  A while back on her podcast she included an excerpt of John Mark Comer sharing a small portion from a conference.  He said the following:

The more load that we are under the more we need to prioritize rest - not the less.  Most of us default in the exact opposite direction.  But we all have our list of excuses.  What if the opposite is true?  The more of the pressure cooker we’re in, the more we need to rest.

He continued on to say:

This is about accepting our limitations of time, emotional limitations of the fact that we’re mortal and in a body.  Jesus knew his limits well.  Strange as it may seem he knew what we conveniently forget.  Time must be properly budgeted for the gathering of inner strength and resolve in order to compensate for one’s weaknesses when spiritual warfare begins.  We must take our rest just as seriously as we take our work.  We must bring the same level of discipline and dedication to both because they live in a symbiotic relationship and we need to expect the enemy to tempt us to go beyond our limitations.  Rest is a weapon.  It is a form of spiritual warfare against the enemy.  It’s very hard to tempt well-rested, emotionally healthy, happy and serene people.  We fight the enemy in the soul and in society itself with rest as much as with work.

John Mark Comer also went on to talk about an Olympian trainer who shared the importance of rest for athletes:  The trainer said “at the elite level what separates the Olympian from just the professional athlete is not how hard they work, but how hard they rest.  Once you get to that level they all pretty much work the same, but what really separates the women from the girls or the men from the boys so to speak or really just the Olympian from the professional - the elite from the elite - is how hard they not only prioritize work, but rest.”

Our world is chaotic.  There’s a lot of noise.  A lot of information is being thrown our way.  It’s easy to feel restless and uncertain and uneasy.  Teaching this year has been hard.  It’s brought a lot of challenges, which has then brought a lot of exhaustion and insecurity.  Over the next few weeks there will be things fighting for our attention.  It’s easy to get caught up in wanting to participate in holiday festivities and filling our time with so many things that we end up not getting the rest we intend to get.  

I don’t know what rest you need to make time for, how much time you need for it or what you want to do to rest over the next few weeks, but I am certain that some kind of rest is needed.  Schedule it in.  Make the choice to say no to something that you’re not 100% certain about.  Be satisfied with doing what you’re comfortable with and letting everything else go.  There’s no doubt you prioritize work - choose to prioritize rest this season.  Have a great restful day friends.