Life continuously speeds up. In fact, the older you get the faster time goes…or at least our perception of it. There have been numerous studies conducted about the effect of time on our psychological and physiological energy. The truth is as each year passes by we need more recovery time. Our lives were designed to move in rhythm. When we get off rhythm, we go against the flow of efficiency.

Many people suffer from not understanding or sometimes undervaluing the need to get what I call, “Blessed Rest.” This rest is different from just rest, it is blessed rest, meaning rest that is in harmony with the life God called us to live. The Bible is full of the concept that it is God who gives us rest. The word rest and peace are used more than almost anything in the Bible. God is just as much interested in our rest as He is our work. Yes, we are called to work and work hard as though we are working for the Lord, but we are also called to rest. Did you get that? We are CALLED to rest.

Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

If you are always working and never resting you are out of God’s spiritual rhythm for your life. You may think you are doing more, but in fact you are doing less. When we overlook rest and undervalue it, we miss out on God’s best. Jesus rested. He got away from everything and took time to replenish Himself. And when was Jesus tempted the most? It was when He was in the desert. When He was tired and weak. Rest replenishes our focus and spiritual stamina.

Here are some tips to get Blessed Rest…

1) You Can’t Have Peace Until You Start To Release

Always filling your schedule with more and more will lead to burnout. We all know this, but we all don’t practice it very well. In order to have rest and peace you have to know what to release. Your problem may not be that you are undisciplined, it may be that it is impossible for a human to organize EVERYTHING you have going on. The secret to success is knowing what to release. For everything you add to your schedule there should be something you are subtracting from it as well. You cannot have the full peace of God until you are willing to get control of your schedule.

2) Practice The Sabbath

God instated the Sabbath to keep us in rhythm. When we violate His principle, we suffer the consequence of a overstocked life. The Sabbath was designed to keep us in perfect oscillation of work and rest. Everything in nature operates from this principle. Think about it…the seasons are designed to oscillate between warm & cold. Nature, from night to day. Our energy, with food and movement. Our bodies, with sleep and work. I could go on and on forever, because everything is designed to work in rhythm. I am not here to debate if the Sabbath should be literally weekly on a specific day, or if it is a custom principle we follow to keep in rhythm. The most important thing is we take time to give God honor and refrain from overworking and under worshiping.

3) Be Intentional About Your Rest

If you wait to rest when you have some left over time you will never get around to it. If you find yourself always exhausted to the point that you can’t even take another step without falling over…you’ve waited to long. Just like you shouldn’t wait to drink until you are dehydrated, you should wait to rest until you have to. Rest should be something we schedule in and plan for. Release the guilt that you must always be working. This is a myth anyway. If you study some of the most successful people, they have huge amounts of margin in their time to recover and replenish their energy. But for some reason we believe the lie that to be productive and successful you must work 65+ hours a week. Make sure you are scheduling in margin as much as you schedule in everything else. Don’t overlook the power of Blessed Rest.