Creating Time + Space for Real Rest

Hey friends! Welcome back to our Finding Balance Series, where we’re spending the week talking about 4 steps to finding real balance in your life!

We’ve already talked about Mastering Your Schedule, and Simplifying Your To-Do List. If you missed either of those posts, be sure to head back and read them first!

Today we’re talking all about Step 3 – Creating both time AND space for real rest!

I actually think that THIS is the biggest reason we feel unbalanced and overwhelmed as women – rest is so often just a wish, not a reality. And I really think we need to change that.

We’ve defined true balance as steadiness, harmony, peace. Those things simply don’t happen when we’re running around with our hair on fire every day. When we fall into bed at night with our bodies exhausted but our minds still churning. When we slap on our busy badges and cry we “don’t have time!” when we know that time is exactly what we need.

But rest doesn’t come easily – not in our hustle culture. We live in a day and age where productivity is almost worshipped, where the person with the most boxes checked off her list gets a gold star for the day, where we wonder “how does she do it all?” with both admiration and jealousy.

Rest is not valued or prioritized. In fact, it’s denied more than anything else. And that shouldn’t surprise us one bit, because embracing rest means embracing our own limits, and most of us have a really hard time doing that.

But here’s the thing – God made us with limits, and those limits are good. We weren’t ever made to “do it all”, that’s God’s job! We were made to work hard AND rest hard. In fact, it’s so important, God actually set apart one whole day of the week for us to rest! For US! For our benefit! Because He loves us!!

So let’s be countercultural and do what God tells us to. Let’s embrace the gift of rest, on a regular basis.

Okay, but HOW?!

One of the things that’s come up a lot in our coaching calls lately is this very question. “But HOW do I rest? I don’t like just sitting around doing nothing. Do I have to take naps?!”

Nope. I do not see naps mandated anywhere in Scripture. (Though I love this story of Elijah where he was completely exhausted and wanted to die and God was like, but how about a nap and a snack? And that was exactly what Elijah needed. And all the moms said, Amen.)

The truth is, rest does NOT need to look like sitting around and doing nothing. Rest can be anything that fills your cup, refreshes your body and your mind, and helps you refocus on the Lord.

Here are a few practical ideas for you…

Resting your mind

• Reading a good book
• Doing a puzzle
• Watching an uplifting TV show
• Listening to a podcast that encourages you
• Going on a walk to clear your head

Resting your body

• Getting outside in nature
• Stretching, walking, or exercising
• Taking a nap
• Eating healthy, delicious food
• Drinking a bunch of water

Resting your heart

• Playing a game
• Meeting up with a friend
• Going on a date with your husband
• Playing with your kids, without distraction
• Going to therapy, or talking with your pastor

Resting everything

• Putting your phone away for the day
• Choosing one day a week where you won’t work or check email
• Getting out of town for a couple of days
• Reading or listening to the Bible
• Praying through everything going on in your life

Rest doesn’t have to mean being still. It means stilling all the fast-moving parts of your mind, body, and heart, and refilling them according to the way God made you. Rest should be life-giving, and you should walk away from it feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of your week!

Practically speaking >> I actually PLAN OUT MY REST each month. I’m SURE that sounds ridiculous, but my tendency is to be a workaholic, and if I don’t plan for rest, I will blow right past it. So I actually schedule it right into my planner on a regular basis. And my life is better for it.

I think yours will be, too.

Your Turn! //

Grab a pen and paper and jot down a few things that you find truly refreshing and life-giving. These can be the ways you rest! Now schedule a few of them into the month ahead. (Once a week is a great rule of thumb – and the one God gave us!) Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what to do, and when. Let’s get that out of the way, so you can just ENJOY the gift of rest that God’s given you!