Finding rest in a busy world in Christ

At the end of the day, being super busy and occupied with activities 24/7 isn't really the flex we think it is. At some point, ‘busy’ sounds like a buzzword and an excuse to shy away from the things and people that truly matter. While some people are genuinely busy and occupied with quite a number of things, rest is an important part of our lives as humans and children of God. “Oh, I’m actually busy with work” “oh, I have a lot of things I’m a part of, I barely have time to sleep, pray, study, and rest” “I’m always busy, I always have something to do”. These are a few of the statements I've caught myself saying and even heard from people too. 

Rest is the will of God for you. It is not God’s plan for you to always feel and be crazy busy or occupied even when there is seemingly nothing to do at that point. It is God’s will for you to be restful and be at peace with your beautiful self. At the end of this piece, I  hope that you’ll be able to truly account for your precious time and ascertain if you’re actually really busy with a lot of things and occupied with not-so-important/necessary activities, or busy has become a coping mechanism or a ‘place’ you often go in and come out of at different times to tell feel like you’re doing something. If you always feel stressed out, tired and worn out, have you sat to think of the possible reasons you feel this way, nearly every time too? 

Here are a few reasons we find ourselves in the crazy busyness of life that takes away peace, focus, rest and direction from us: 

●     Fear

●     Worry

●     Overthinking

●     Lack of direction

●     Need to constantly prove your worth

●     Unpleasant personal experiences

 “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,”

Psalms 92:12-14 NKJV 

God made heaven and earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. Rest is good for everyone and you're not an exemption. Rest is good for reflection, and healthy spiritual, mental and physical growth. Fresh and Flourishing in rest and peace of God is who you are called to be and where you should be. Rest is taking time out to be at peace, ease and be whole in your body, mind and spirit. What else is rest? 

●     Rest is a state of mind. You could be working really hard and busy and still do them from a place of rest

●     Rest is a disposition. Your natural output and aura should be giving ‘restful’

●     Rest is a place. The world may already be chaotic because of personal and universal experiences but the best place you want and need to be every time is the place of rest. Everything you do should come from a place of rest regardless of how hard working or busy you may be. 

Being crazy busy sure has a lot of effects on our lives. If you're not fresh, flourishing, doing things from the place of rest and trusting in God, this means you’re:

●     getting really stressed and burnt out,

●     distracted from living the life of rest that God has designed for you

●  trying so hard to live up to something or prove that you’re good enough or deserving of something. 

 It’s time to stop stressing and striving and time to step into the place of rest and do everything - living and working from there. Here are a few ways to do so:

     ●     Declutter your space. What are the things you’re involved in at the moment that really isn't God’s will for you? Are they draining you mentally, spiritually or physically? Are they making you feel like you need to constantly prove your self worth? Are you doing them out of fear of missing out or any other type of fear? If you’re a part of anything that currently makes you feel anything but peace, declutter and take them out.

●  Understand who you are and don’t accept ideologies that puts you in awkward positions of constantly fighting, worrying, getting neck-deep in activities and proving your self-worth.

●     Learn to say NO: It’s very okay to say NO to people and things that would most likely stress you beyond your current bandwidth, tamper with your place of rest and peace that God has designed for you. As believers, we have the gift of the HolySpirit, pray to know what to do, what to be a part of, who to partner with and generally in all your decision-making.

●     Learn to take time off work and activities generally to rest, recoup, pray, study, read books and basically refresh your mind.

●     Strengthen your relationship with God through prayer, the word and consistent communications. There’s a lot of goodness that this brings to our hearts as believers when we connect with God consistently.

 Jesus found you worthy enough to die for, God found you worthy enough to call son, friend and lover, rest in this knowledge, rest in the peace and plan of God for your learn, take meaningful and timely breaks, work good and smart from the place of rest. Shalom!