Reconciling with Rest

A chronic doer slows down and has to deal with it

Rest is an investment in well-being and creativity. It’s an opportunity to recharge, and come back ready to go. Regardless, we hate to step away from our ingrained patterns of productivity to find it. It’s not a waste of time, I tell myself again and again.

Why are we so bad at rest?

Last week, I was not having it. I was indulging in a little privileged pity party, questioning my decision to take some time off work. Rest feels antithetical to the pace of life that I enjoy, especially when everyone around me seems to be moving forward. If I’m not moving forward at the speed I want, I feel lazy and complacent.

A 40-hour workweek and 9-5 jobs have given us a model of what productivity looks like: input → output. We see so many people burned out in jobs they hate, grinding away for outputs but missing the vital step of filling up their souls. Even when you’re happy with your work, creating space to think about problems from a fresh perspective is invaluable.

It’s easy to tell a friend that rest is essential or write a cute little essay about values.

But truly living in the in-between space myself? That’s another story. Taking a sabbatical from “traditional work” has been an exercise in living out the values I know but don’t always feel.

The waiting space between action and results can be the most difficult to make peace with—and it’s not going away. No matter what stage of life we find ourselves in, there’s always some kind of transition happening. We’re not meant to be static beings, living in the glory of the past. Joy comes with accepting those transitions and embracing slow, restful—and sometimes painful—growth.

God, the universe, a divine connection—whichever way you choose to view the world, serendipitous moments happen.

Knee-deep in my annoyance with rest last week, I was cooking a late dinner and listening to Norah Jones. My phone lit up with a message from my dear friend Jim. Jim has a knack for speaking the truth in love, and doing it just when I need to hear it. He shared a passage with me from C.S. Lewis on waiting for God and resting in His perfect timing—exactly the encouragement I needed in that moment. The super serendipitous part? Whenever I go sailing with Jim, he puts on Norah Jones as we sail back to the slip at sunset.

Rest brings growth, refinement, and blessings. Maybe just not at the speed we want. It’s tempting to focus on the future, but when we’re ten steps ahead and neglecting the present, anxiety and doubt can sneak in. When we can rest quietly in the present and trust God with the future, we create the space for Him to work on our hearts and shape us into the people He wants us to become.