I listened to a podcast recently about the importance of rest for the maintenance of our physical and mental health. According to the podcast host—a licensed trauma therapist—sleep, in particular, is the first and most important form of self-care. And the data backs this up. Insufficient sleep—which has unfortunately been my default setting for a long time—can lead to:
Increased blood pressure
Migraines
Lowered immune system
Heightened risk for seizures
Onset of pre-diabetes
Increased depression and anxiety
Increased risk of other mental illness
Diminished efficiency and effectiveness
A shortened life span.
Did you get that last one? Not getting enough sleep—which is the ultimate form of rest—can take years off the end of our lives, while also diminishing the quality of the years we do have.
Suffice it to say, sleep is important.
Rest is important.
As much as I wish I could function well with a lot less of it, I know that rest (including sleep) is necessary. I’m sure we all know this, so why do we push ourselves to keep going and going and going? Why do we exert ourselves to the point of exhaustion, having somehow believed the lie that we can’t stop or that we don't have to? I wonder if many of us secretly tell ourselves that rest is a luxury we don’t have time for. It’s for the privileged—those with easier, less demanding lives. Or, if you’re like me, you push yourself and don’t even think about your need to rest. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine” until I’m not.
And I’m not just talking about physical rest. Our souls need rest too.
As I processed my need for more rest, I realized that all my reasons for not resting were also interfering with my ability to change some other unproductive habits. Prime example: One of the areas in which the Lord has been calling me up higher is in my thought life. He has been challenging me for a while now to “change the way I think” in certain areas. For example, I have a tendency to be self-critical. The Lord wants me to change that thinking habit, so I can experience greater freedom, fruitfulness and joy in Him.
As I’ve tried to cooperate with God in changing this unproductive thought pattern, I’ve noticed that I’m most prone to negative thinking when I’m tired. No surprises here, right? I’m sure we would all agree that our defenses against any temptation are lowest when we’re feeling weary or fatigued. But here’s the thing: even though being tired was making it more difficult for me to change, the Lord was not accepting my being too tired as an excuse not to change.
Rather, He helped me to recognize that I needed to take preemptive action against those behaviors that were getting in my way. In other words, if I wanted to change my thinking, I needed to get in front of the weariness that prevented me from doing so. I needed to, as much as I possibly could, put strategies in place to stop the exhaustion—physical and mental/emotional—before it happened.
So, over time, I’ve begun to implement a few small strategies to help me feel less tired, more rested.
Photo credit: Thought Catalog on Unsplash.com.
Making Rest A Priority
Psalms 127:2 NLT - “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones.”
Typically a very early riser, one of the hardest changes I’ve made in order to get more rest is giving myself permission to sleep a little later in the morning when something has kept me up the night before. In doing so, I have prioritized getting more sleep over having more hours to get things done. Although I had gotten used to being chronically sleep deprived, I actually believe the data that shows that sleep deprivation works against us in the long run. So, I took this first step to try to ward off the physical fatigue that was keeping me from God’s best.
Second, in order to give my soul a chance to be rejuvenated, I began planning mini “re-creation” breaks throughout the week. I began adding downtime to my schedule—adding activities that helped me to stave off exhaustion by “re-creating” my soul’s energy with something I enjoyed. I scheduled morning or midday walks to feed my soul while I enjoyed nature, and sometimes connected with friends. I started doing jigsaw puzzles after dinner to refocus my thoughts away from the tiring activities of the day. I’d forgotten how much I liked losing myself in the process of “puzzling.” I love to read, so I began reading more novels—instead of watching TV or my IPad—to wind down before bed.
The Lord helped me to see that taking this time to rejuvenate, even before I felt too tired, was not irresponsible, nor was it a wasteful luxury. Actually, doing so was both strategic and powerful. I was taking action that was enabling me to be at my best, that was strengthening me to resist thoughts and mindsets that worked against me. The Lord showed me that taking breaks to help me rest was a weapon. Let me say that again:
Rest. Is. A. Weapon.
It’s not only a gift.
The Lord knows that always feeling tired keeps us in a weakened state. Unable to be at our best. Unable to move forward effectively in the things He’s called us to do. Unable to resist all kinds of temptation. At risk for physical and mental illness.
Rest, on the other hand, strengthens and sharpens us. It makes us more available to Him and effective in Him. It makes us less susceptible to the enemy’s schemes. It helps us to battle smarter.
As followers of Christ, our willingness to rest can often be an indicator of our confidence in God to provide and care for us. As His beloved, part of our inheritance is the Lord’s invitation and assurance that we can rest in Him (Hebrews 4). Let us then, by faith, lay aside those mindsets that tempt us to believe that we can’t rest. Or that we shouldn’t.
So, what are the things that bring you rest? That strengthen you? That you enjoy? That enable you to be more present and more effective?
How might you schedule rest breaks into your day or week? If you need it, how can you get a little more sleep? Ask the Lord for some ideas and strategies for how to make rest a preemptive weapon in your life.
Sandy and her husband are parents to three young adult children. Their son was diagnosed with multiple disabilities 21 years ago after a devastating illness as a toddler. Following her son’s diagnosis, Sandy quit her job to become his full-time caregiver and advocate. Sandy works now as a Certified Professional Coach with a focus on coming alongside other special needs parents – empowering them to make choices that will enable them and their families to live freer, more joy-filled and purposeful lives. You can learn more about Sandy, her work and her blog at www.UNDisabledLIVES.org. You can also reach her at Sandy@UNDisabledLIVES.org.
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