The last year brought several months of unending rest and refreshment to our souls. I mean, that’s what happens when we are stuck at home with nothing to do, right? We are forced into rest. I’m so thankful that we get to kick off this new school year with our bodies and our kids fully rested and recovered. 

That’s what we all experienced, right?

Let’s be honest — 2020 was a freaking doozy. If there is one thing we learned from the past 100 months that we’ve been stuck in this back-and-forth limbo, it’s that actually feeling rested has very little to do with physical rest. Outside of ensuring that your body gets enough sleep each night (so important, people), rest does not typically equate to not doing anything. At least, not the truly fulfilling rest that Jesus talks about and offers. 

Think about it: How many times can you sit on the couch and slow down your body, but you can’t seem to quiet your mind? How often does your family go off and have a blast together, but you struggle to keep your mind present, and by the end of the day, you’re just mentally worn down? Listen, none of this is exclusive to you. We’re all a bit (or a lot) mentally worn down after everything. So, how do we find rest when we just can’t seem to slow down? Or when simply slowing down doesn’t give us the satisfyingly refreshed feeling that we were hoping for?

For many of us, our definition of rest is all wrong. We need to go back to the source of life itself to figure out how to live this thing to its fullest potential.

What does Jesus say about how to rest?

Jesus actually has a lot to say about rest. And many of us quote these verses constantly. But until we really dive in and practice what He (and we) preach, this idea of true rest continues to seem beautiful and utterly elusive to us. 

Some of the most common teachings from Jesus about rest include:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” — Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

There are two important things to consider in these verses: what it means to rest your soul and what it means to rest your mind. Jesus actually doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about physical rest. It’s important, but the culture at this time was already keeping the Sabbath. That means they already built one day a week into their lives to just slow their pace — to spend time with family, to sit and rest — and yet, they still weren’t feeling rested. Most of us have experienced that same thing. How often do we feel even more worn down after a massive family gathering? 

What Jesus talks about here is what we’ve all missed: Fulfilling rest is more spiritual and mental than anything else. Our souls need to be filled, and according to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 11, our souls are filled by serving others. When we stop constantly striving to elevate ourselves (hello, American way) and we position ourselves as servant leaders, we actually align our souls with how we were created to live. That alignment gives us direct connection with God in a way that our fast-paced rat race never will. We will live full when we live in humility and continual communion with our Father. 

This act of living in gentleness and humility with others builds relationships, which also fulfill the soul. We were created for community, and one thing that we’ve learned over the last year or so is that life alone is just not the same. We were made to live in communion with others and with God. And when we do that, our mental rest is naturally what benefits. 

In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about finding mental rest from anxiety, i.e., learning to let our minds quiet and be present to enjoy the moments of life we are in. Too often we get ahead of ourselves, either with worry or planning or anything that pulls us away from living fully present. But when we focus our hearts and souls on God and others, we find ourselves less worried about all of the “what’s next” and “what if” thoughts that circulate around us. When we finally get to that place where we can focus our minds on the present, we can find rest. 

As Jesus says, the day has enough worries for itself. Why are we piling up more worries on top of our full minds? If you’re strength training, and you lift your near-max weight, you may be able to do a few reps safely, but much more will cause some injury. Maximum weight is not sustainable. We don’t get up in the morning and strap a 50-pound weight to our chest and then go about our day. Why do we do this to our mind, and then wonder why we suffer injury, i.e., anxiety, panic attacks, general mental fatigue or worse?

So, what do we do to fully rest?

If we want to find rest, we need to stop equating rest with physically not doing anything, and start leaning into what Jesus says about mental and spiritual rest. After all, He is the Lord of the Sabbath, so He knows a thing or two about how to sync our bodies up to the rhythm of how we were created to live. 

To learn more about rest, check out a few of our messages about rest and Sabbath:

• To Hell With Normal

• What Your Life Is Missing