Ah, rest. Such a beautiful word and a wonderful thought. Yet, a seemingly impossible thing to find in our world today. Anyone else feels like that’s the case? This is what I have been battling recently. It’s almost like rest has gone off to a distant land, far from anywhere that I go.

But maybe this is my fault.

I recently had the great opportunity to go on a family vacation to Cincinnati, Ohio. My family and I met up with my mom’s side of the family, and had a week of celebration for my grandparent’s 50th anniversary! It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. We toured the Creation Museum, the Ark Encounter, watched a Cincinnati Reds game and walked through several stores. To many people, this would have been a perfect getaway.

However, I missed out on a lot of that fun. I had allowed life and schedule to become busy and overwhelmed myself with tasks and duties. Instead of enjoying quality family time, and celebrating an awesome accomplishment, I focused on how much time I would need to get some work done. I caught myself several times wishing that we would hurry up and get back to the hotel so I could turn on the laptop and get to work.

How pathetic right? I mean, I completely missed out. But apart from my personal issues, isn’t this the dilemma we see all over society today? So many people out there working themselves to the grave, and never taking a moment just to breathe. Just to smile. Just to relax. Or just flat out live. Where is rest?

In our more recent society, we totally forgot to prioritize rest. Practically kicked it to the curb. We like to pretend like it is important to us. We buy the big fancy beds, or have our doctors prescribe the best sleeping pills, but it’s all really just to get more “rest” in a shorter amount of time.

Here is the issue: instead of living from rest, we are caught up in working to rest. I know I’m guilty of it. There were many times when the thought came to mind, “If I can just get these few things done, then I can relax with everyone else.” The reality is, those few things just keep growing.

So how do we live from rest? This thought process goes completely against how we have all been raised most of our lives. Honestly, it could look a little differently for all of us. Here are just a few examples: Make that commitment to play with your kids every day before working on the computer. Have a no work time, where you are only allowed to do something relaxing. It could be taking a family vacation. Or, my personal favorite and where I believe true rest comes from, never start or end the day without sitting down and talking with God. No matter what your vehicle for rest may be, it has to take priority over work. If the two come to an intersection, your rest should always go first.

I know it is easy to start thinking “Well rest doesn’t pay the bills.” However, I know who is in control of the time and has the power to provide for those bills. Take it from these two quotes:

Matthew 6:25-27 - “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your Heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”

Martin Luther - “I have so much to do today that I'm going to need to spend three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done.”

For those of you who suffer like I do just to relax, I hope this was encouraging. I also want to challenge you today. Go home, tell your family that you love them, have a chat with God, and take a nap.