This episode centers around embracing rest without succumbing to guilt, a struggle many individuals face in the relentless pursuit of productivity. As I delve into this topic, I share personal experiences and Biblical insights that elucidate the divine design of rest as a fundamental aspect of human flourishing. It is imperative to recognize that rest is not a sign of laziness, but rather a sacred gift from God, intended to restore our bodies, minds, and spirits. We explore the myriad forms of rest—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social—emphasizing the necessity of integrating these into our daily lives.

Takeaways:

1. The content presented on Living the Selah Life serves solely for the purposes of spiritual encouragement and personal reflection.
2. Listeners are encouraged to consult licensed professionals for any physical, mental, or emotional health issues they may encounter.
3. Rest, as designed by God, is a vital aspect of human flourishing that should not be viewed as laziness or selfishness.
4. Guilt associated with resting often stems from cultural beliefs that equate worth with productivity and constant activity.

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanor, and are based on personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, to breathe deep and reconnect with the presence of God.

I'm your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Whether you're learning to hear God's voice like we talked about last time, or you're just beginning to explore what it means to live with intentional pauses, I'm so grateful that you're here.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign, and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

Hey there friend.

I am so glad that you all are back with me today.

I hope that last week's conversation about hearing God's voice gave you some encouragement and maybe even some new ways to listen for his gentle whispers in your everyday life.

Today we're going to dive into something else.

We are going to talk about rest without feeling guilty.

This used to be a big one for me.

It's not anymore, but it used to be.

This might be one of the biggest struggles, second to people being able to hear from God that I often hear.

They want to create space for God.

They want to slow down and be present.

But but every time they try to rest, they're overwhelmed with guilt about all the things they should be doing instead of resting.

Because there is so much to do.

Maybe you can relate to this.

Have you ever tried to take a day off?

But you spend that entire day off feeling anxious about all the things you're not accomplishing.

You can't even enjoy the rest because you're too worried about falling behind.

And instead of experiencing peace in God's presence, you feel guilty for not being productive.

God recently told me not to allow what needs to be done to overshadow what has already been done.

And this was huge for me because I always have something to do, just like everybody else.

Now when my mind goes to all the things that I have to do, I remember what I have already done and not just in that day.

The overall picture.

If any of this sounds familiar Just know you are not by yourself.

And more importantly, this guilt about rest is not from God.

Today we're going to explore some of the things that the Bible has to say about rest, why God designed us to need it, and how we can learn to receive rest as the gift that it is, rather than seeing it as being lazy or selfish.

So let's start from the very beginning.

Genesis chapter 2, verses 2 through 3 tells us, and on the seventh day, God ended His work, which he had done.

And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.

God, who never gets tired, who never needs a break, chose to rest.

Not only did he rest, he blessed the seventh day.

He set it apart as holy.

He made rest part of the very fabric of creation.

Why did God do this?

Why would he do this?

It wasn't because he needed the rest for sure.

It was because he knew we would need it.

He was establishing a pattern, a principle that will be essential for human flourishing.

Rest is part of God's design for how we're supposed to live.

It's built into the very structure of creation.

When God gave the Ten Commandments, one of them was specifically about rest.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

In it, you shall do no work.

You, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

He made it one of the 10 most important principles for how his people should live.

And notice that he commanded it for everyone.

Children, servants, dog, cats, everyone were required to rest.

Rest is that important to God.

And rest is actually a gift.

God is saying, I care about you so much that I'm going to make sure you have permission to rest.

I'm going to build it into the very structure of how you live so that you don't have to feel guilty about taking care of yourself.

So why do we feel guilty about rest?

If rest is God's design and a command from God, why do so many of us feel guilty about doing it?

And I think it's for a couple of reasons.

First, we live in a culture that equates worth with productivity.

All of us have been taught that our value comes from what we accomplish, how much we get done, how busy we are.

We often wear exhaustion like A badge of honor and feel guilty when we're not constantly producing something.

But this is contrary to how God sees us.

Our worth does not come from what we do.

It comes from who we are as God's children.

Second, many of us have been taught that rest can be selfish.

I used to think so.

We think that taking time for ourselves means we're being self centered or neglecting our responsibilities to others.

But this is a lie that keeps us exhausted and ineffective to the core.

Jesus model rests for us in Luke 5:16 it tells us so.

He himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Jesus, who had the most important mission in human history, regularly withdrew from the crowds to spend time alone with the Father.

If Jesus needed rest, how much more do we And I have a soapbox about Jesus going off to pray because you will never convince me that he was off speaking a bunch of words for hours and hours and hours.

I personally think that one of Jesus major forms of prayer was being in His Father's presence.

In his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

But you know what?

That's just me.

I digress.

Third, we feel guilty about rest because we've bought into the lie that there's always more we should be doing.

We think if we're not constantly working that we're being irresponsible.

But this mindset leads to burnout, resentment, and ultimately ineffectiveness.

The truth Rest actually makes us more productive, not less.

When we're well rested, we think more clearly, make better decisions and have more energy.

We have more energy for the things that really matter.

When we're exhausted, we make mistakes, we're irritable with the people that we love, and we end up taking longer to accomplish things because we're not functioning at our best.

So what does true rest really look like?

In a nutshell, rest is about restoration.

And restoration is different things for different people.

True rest involves several different aspects.

Physical rest, this is about taking care of your body, getting enough sleep, eating well, moving your body in ways that feel good, taking breaks when you're tired.

There's mental rest.

And this is about giving your mind a break from constantly having to solve problems, planning or worrying.

You could take a walk, sit quietly, or engage in activities that don't require intense mental focus.

Emotional rest, this can look like creating space to process your feelings, to grieve what needs to be grieved, to celebrate what needs to be celebrated.

And spiritual rest, this can look like resting in God's presence.

I just love this one because all these other forms of rest fall in line when you just rest in his presence, when you just sit with him, resting in his presence, accepting his love, his provision.

It's about trusting that he's in control and you don't have to manage everything on your own all the time.

And then we have social rest.

And this can look like people who restore you or hanging out with people who restore you rather than drain you.

It's about having relationships where you can be yourself without pretending.

Sometimes social rest means being alone, and sometimes it means being with people who fill you up.

One of the most helpful things I've learned about rest is that it works best when it's built into regular routines, rather than just happening when I am completely worn out.

God designed us to live in rhythms and patterns.

So, like, there's a rhythm to the day, the night, morning, afternoon, evening, six days a week, seven days a week, planting, growing, harvesting, you know, things like that.

When we ignore these rhythms and try to live at the same pace all the time, we end up completely exhausted, worn out, ineffective.

But when we learn to work with the rhythms that God has built into creation, we find that we actually accomplish more more with less stress.

So here are some practical ways to build rest into your regular life or your daily rhythm.

Number one, and my favorite daily rest.

And this might be a few minutes of quiet time in the morning before the day gets started.

It doesn't even have to be in the morning.

A few minutes of quiet time with just you and God when you can have could be a short walk on your lunch break.

It could be turning off all screens, an hour before bed, and just reading or listening to music or just sitting still.

The goal or the key is having some kind of daily pause that allows you to reconnect with God and with yourself, which is the point of my podcast.

And then there's weekly rest.

And this is about having one day a week that's different from the others.

It doesn't have to be a Sunday, and it doesn't have to be a whole day if that's not possible with your schedule.

But having some regular time each week that's set apart for rest and restoration is essential.

For some people, this might mean or look like going to church and then spending the afternoon reading or taking a nap.

For others, it could be spending time in nature or having a long conversation with a friend.

The thing is, it should be restorative and it's different from your regular work routine.

And then there's seasonal rest.

This is about recognizing that There are complete seasons in life when you need more rest and seasons when you can handle more activity.

Maybe you need more rest during stressful times at work or.

Or during certain seasons of parenting, or when you're going through difficult circumstances.

And then some seasons you require less.

But just be led by the Holy Spirit on that.

Learning to adjust your expectations and your schedule based on what season you're in is a sign of wisdom.

Now let's discuss some practical ways to overcome the guilt that comes with resting sometimes.

First and foremost, try to remember that rest is obedience.

When you rest, you're obeying God's command and following Jesus's example.

You're not being irresponsible.

You're taking care of the body and the soul that God has entrusted to you.

Also recognize that rest makes you more effective, not less.

When you're well rested, you're more patient with your family, more creative in your work, more present in your relationships.

Rest isn't taking away from your productivity, it's enhancing it.

And start small.

If you feel guilty about taking a whole day off, start with just an hour.

If an hour feels like too much, start with 15 minutes.

The goal is gradually retrain your mind to see rest as normal, normal and necessary, rather than something that's extra.

Fourth, you can plan your rest.

And this might sound counterintuitive or like the absolute most for some, but there are some people that feel less guilty about rest when it's planned rather than spontaneous.

If rest is on your calendar, it feels more legitimate, more intentional.

And last but not least, remember that you can't give what you don't have.

If you're constantly exhausted, you don't have much to offer the people you love, or your job, or the things that God has called you to do.

Taking care of yourself isn't an option.

It's necessary for being able to love and serve others well.

So what does rest look like for you?

Rest for you may look very different than what rest looks like for someone else.

Some people are revived by listening to sermons, by reading scripture, by sitting with God, by sitting in silence, by being alone, by being in a group.

It all depends on you, your personality, and what actually restores you.

For me, I have several things that that restore me now.

And I've actually learned to live from a place of rest instead of working towards rest.

It took some time to get there, but for me, in my life, I've learned that I'm able to hear God better when I'm at rest.

Even in times of warfare, you can be at rest, I'm able to hear him better.

I'm able to perceive him better.

I have more joy when I'm coming from a place of rest.

So I encourage you, if you're not one to like to rest, to really, really dig deep on that and ask the Lord to help you to find ways to allow him to restore your soul.

Let me know what new and innovative ways of resting that you come up with.

I would love to hear about it.

So we will move on to this week's Scripture Spotlight, which comes From Isaiah, chapter 30, verses 15.

It says, for thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest you shall be saved, and quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

But you would not this verse comes from a time when God's people were were not in the best way.

Instead of turning to him, they were making alliances, forming strategies, and trying to handle all kinds of stuff on their own.

They were exhausting themselves trying to fix things that really only God could fix.

God's words were simple and direct.

In returning and rest, you shall be saved.

Salvation would be found in coming back to him and remaining in his care.

He continued, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

And this is the heart that knows who God is and trusts him completely.

Strength grows when we stay near him and believe his promises.

This verse ends on a solemn note.

God offered his people the gift of rest and strength, but they refused it.

They held on to their own plans and their own ways.

And so it is important to ask how often we do the same.

God is offering you rest today.

He's offering you the strength that comes from confidence in Him.

The biggest question is, will you receive it?

So we will move on to this week's Paul's Prompts.

And remember, Paul's prompts are not for condemning yourself or judgment at all.

We do not do that here.

Ever.

It is just a personal heart reflection to see where you are.

Because once we see where we are, we can allow God to help us past that place.

So pause Prompt number one what messages did you receive growing up about rest and productivity and how do those messages affect you today?

When you think about taking time to rest, what emotions come up?

What would change in your life if you really believe that rest is God's gift to you rather than something you have to earn?

What does true rest look like for you and what is one small step you could take today to build more rest into your life without feeling guilty?

Take your time with these questions.

Let them help you examine your heart and your beliefs about rest.

So, my friends, we are moving on to our Selah moment and prayer.

So let's take a minute right now to practice receiving rest as a gift from God.

Wherever you are, take a deep breath, let your shoulders drop and feel the weight of your body being supported by whatever you're sitting or standing on.

Breathe deeply.

This is your Selah moment, a space to rest in God's presence.

You don't have to earn this moment of peace you don't have to deserve is a gift from God.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you that you are a God who gives rest.

Thank you that you designed us to need rest and that you don't see it as being lazy.

Thank you that you modeled rest for us and commended it for us because you know how much we need it.

I pray for each person listening who has been struggling with guilt about rest.

Help them see that rest is your gift, not something that is extra.

Help them understand that their worth doesn't get come from their productivity, but their identity as your beloved children.

For those who are exhausted, who have been pushing themselves beyond their limits, give them permission to stop.

Help them see that taking care of themselves is of the utmost importance.

Give them the courage to say no to things that are draining them and yes to the right rest that you're offering.

For those who are afraid to rest because they don't trust that you're in control God, I ask that you increase their faith.

Help them see that you are bigger than their problems, more concerned about their lives than they are, and completely capable of handling things while they rest.

Lord, help all of us learn to work from rest rather than working toward rest.

Help us live from a place of trust and peace.

Create in us patterns of rest that restore us and make us more productive and effective in the work you've called us to do.

Help us to be witnesses to others of the peace and balance that comes from following you.

And it is in your Jesus name that we pray.

And it is so.

So let's pause right here and sink into your Selah moment.

Sam.

Sa.

All right, all right.

That brings us to the end of this episode.

Thank you so much for being with me today.

In our next episode, we're going to talk about how to maintain some of this rest and presence that we spoke about today.

In seasons where life is busy or things are just overwhelming because those times do exist and practical ways to stay connected to God when our schedules feel out of control.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, I ask that you share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause.

You can connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at Living the Selah Life or send me an email@livingtheselahliferoton me.

That's Living the Selah Life at P R O T O N Me.

And if you're wondering how to actually put some of these things into practice in your everyday life, I can help you with that.

I'm starting a 21 day mentor group where we'll walk through this together and I also work with people one on one.

If you'd rather that kind of focused attention again, just email me at Living the Selah lifeproton Me and I'll send you the details.

Until next time.

Remember, you can walk in his light minute by minute.

You don't have to live disconnected from God's presence.

God has so much more for you than that.

So may you go from this place, rested not just in body, but in spirit, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted not in the shifting voices of this world, but in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guides you.

Hallelujah.

For man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And may you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence in Jesus name.

And it is so.

Selah.

Sam.

Sa.