What it Looks Like to Enter God's Rest in My Daily Life

While reading my daily devotion this morning, I came across some questions that got me thinking: Am I truly choosing to enter into God’s rest every day? Am I truly accepting His gift of rest? And if not, how can I make that choice, even when my days are full of mothering and caring for our home?

It's a daily choice, a conscious decision we need to make. It’s not something we choose once and then are set for life. No, it’s a choice we must make daily—to lay everything down at His feet, sit, and allow Him to provide us with rest.

For me, entering into God's rest looks like waking up early, while the house is quiet and spending time with the Lord - reading His Word, praying, and worshiping. In the past, my quiet morning time was often rushed because I would look around my house and see everything that needed to be done, so I would hurry my time with the Lord, check the boxes, and move on to chores. I never allowed myself to truly rest in His presence and I felt the effects of this. I was constantly tired, I never felt like I was doing enough for myself or my family, and I was anxious, I was angry and simply overwhelmed.

What I’ve learned is that throughout my day, I need to listen to the Holy Spirit when He prompts me to rest. It might come at an inconvenient time, like when I’m in the middle of doing the dishes or folding the fourth load of laundry for the day, but I need to trust Him over myself. If He is calling me to rest, I should step out in obedience and rest. If that means the laundry and vacuuming go undone for a bit—that’s okay. He is calling me to rest in His presence, where true peace is found. Peace isn’t found in how clean my house is or whether the laundry is done.

If you're a parent, you'll totally get this. Think about this...

When our kids are overly tired and full of emotions, nothing seems right to them. They get agitated easily, and everything becomes a big deal. They struggle to control their emotions. As their parents, we know what they need: rest. We try to explain why they need rest and why they need to slow down. We can explain it until we’re blue in the face, but nine times out of ten, they won’t listen to us. We know what’s best in this situation, and we want them to rest so they’ll feel better. I think the same thing happens when God tells us to rest. We fight it, deny the need to rest, and think we know best—to work, to finish our to-do list, to get things done—but is that really what we need?

Let us understand that God knows what we need more than we do. He is our Creator, the Author of our stories and He knows what is truly best for us, He has our best interest at heart. He has given us the gift of perfect peace and rest in His presence. Why do we ignore this? 

A little side note that I am reminded of when I think about entering into His presence to rest.

Just like a child who is tired and wants to be held by their mom or dad for comfort and rest, we should have that same desire with our Heavenly Father. I read a theory the other day about why we lift our hands when we worship. Think about a child who wants to be held by their parent—they lift their hands towards them, signaling their need and desire to be picked up. Maybe that’s why we raise our hands when we worship and pray. Perhaps our hearts are expressing the desire to be lifted and comforted by our Heavenly Father.

So today, I encourage you to accept this gift and rest in His presence. Allow Him to give you perfect rest. The laundry can wait. The dishes can wait. The to-do list can wait.

Lift your hands to Him, sit in His presence, and just be.

He will give you all you need, including perfect rest.

In love,

Melissa

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Links

Bible: She Reads Truth

Motherhood Study: The Daily Grace Co.