Blog by Alan Fadling

Two weeks ago, I sent out “Three Reasons We Don’t Rest Well.” Today I’ll share four more reasons I’ve found it hard to embrace God’s gift of rest.

Reason #4: We have an identity resistance to nonproductive time.

A lot of us only know how to measure our time in terms of getting things done. Whether at work or at home or in our personal lives, we feel we must always be in production mode.

Maybe we tell ourselves that “time is money.” According to that idea, resting is a waste. But time could be defined differently. We could tell ourselves that “time is love.” We could realize that letting ourselves be loved by God, loving God back, and sharing that love with those around us requires a restful soul.

So one vision of time is focused on acquisition and accomplishment, while the other is focused on expressing genuine care toward God and others.

If I believe that my identity is something I need to achieve by what I do, what I acquire, or who I impress, then I will always feel the need to keep doing more things and chasing more goals and impressing more and more people. But if I see my identity as a generous gift from the Father that I bring into my world to bless others, then I’ll discover that alongside the good gift of work, God is also giving me the gift of deep rest for my body and my soul.

As I’ve said before, if I am what I do, then time set aside to rest well will feel like an exercise in emptiness.

Reason #5: Our culture tends to be rest-resistant.

n general, I’ve found that our culture–including our work cultures and even our faith cultures--can be very driven. This pressure is always pushing against us and can keep us from making time for regular rhythms of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly rest.

Most of us have been taught, either directly or indirectly, how important work is. Few of us have had anyone teach or mentor us in good rest habits. One of the reasons we began Unhurried Living was to provide modeling, teaching, and training in Jesus’ good rhythms of rest and work.

Resting well might be one of the most countercultural intentions to pursue, but it also might be one of the greatest gifts we give our world. God made us to desire deep rest, and our souls don’t thrive when we’re exhausted.

Reason #6: We postpone rest.

When I think back over the different chapters of my life, I realize how in each of them I often assumed that rest was impossible for one reason or another.

We tell ourselves things like:

“I’ll rest when I get out of school.”

“I’ll rest when I get settled in my job.”

“I’ll rest when the kids grow up and leave the house.”

“I’ll rest when I retire.”

“I’ll rest when…” is ultimately a way of saying “I’ll rest never.” There will always be a reason not to rest.

I’ve come to believe that just as scripture says that “today” is the day of salvation, “today” is also a good day to enter into the rest God is giving us in the present moment, the present day, the present season. There is always a way to receive God’s gift of rest. It’s good to remember that rest may look different in each season, but postponing rest is not our best option.

Reason #7: We simply don’t know how to rest.

It can be easy to remember those people who have taught us how to work hard, but it may be far more difficult to remember people who were good examples of a deeply restful life.

As a kid, I was resistant to doing chores and other work. Work didn’t come naturally and I had to learn how to work. I’ve also had to learn how to rest, but I don’t remember any authority figures from my childhood or even my young adulthood teaching me how to rest. God gave commands and guidance about Sabbath because he knows we need it.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you find it difficult to rest. Instead, ask yourself, “How might I learn to rest well?” Or make it a matter of prayer and ask, “Lord, would you teach me how to rest in the ways you’ve been inviting me to do?”

In summary, here are the seven reasons we struggle to rest well: 

• We have a distorted image of God.
• We are overtired.
• We mistake numbing for resting.
• We have an identity resistance to nonproductive time.
• Our culture tends to be rest-resistant.
• We postpone rest.
• We simply don’t know how to rest.

For Reflection:

• Does one or more of these reasons sound especially familiar to you? Why don’t you set aside a little time in the next day or two to talk with God about that. Ask God how he would like to shepherd you to places of rest and refreshment in your life.