You might know that rest is what you need. Giving yourself a full day to be still, to put your feet up and to have time to process life seems what your soul is thirsting for.
Yet, although you have looked forward to escaping from the busyness of the week, you find yourself struggling on that day which is lacking the normal week-day structure.
Why has your day of rest now become an unexpected emotional ride?
You might feel that depression you’ve been able to distract yourself from all week poke its head around. Or it might be loneliness with no co-workers or students to keep you company. And still the dread of uncertainty about the future suddenly decides to show up and rob you of the peace you crave and need.
Rest days can be hard. Without all of the distractions of a normal routine filled week, assignment deadlines to meet and emails to respond to, a day to chill can just make room for other heart issues to surface.
If this is your struggle, I would encourage you to practice rest and being still despite the inner conflict. Begin with sitting alone just for a couple of hours per week and allow yourself to sit with those hard issues.
In that time work through whatever it is that comes to mind. Your heart and soul need you to work through those hard issues. Journal, go for a walk, talk with a trusted friend. But do not ignore what needs to be processed and what needs your attention for healing.
If guilt is the culprit that steals the joy found in rest, work against that lie that you have to be productive at all times. Your value and worth are not defined by what you do, but simply by who you are and whom you belong to; the Lord.
Embracing a full day of rest with a heart at ease and peace takes time for some of us. We have trained ourselves to be on the go, to be busy and to find solace in things not truly restful for us (ie. scrolling through social media, bingeing on tv shows).
If lack of structure is throwing you off, put in some structure to your rest day to help you in it. Plan what you want to do in the afternoon time, what you want for your meals and how you will make an effort to go slower in the mornings. And make time to be with your thoughts and to hear the voice of the Lord.
Rest can have some activity. Activities that fill your soul and don’t drain you. Activities that are slower and allow your mind to be calm (ie gardening, working on a puzzle, going for a long walk).
Over time, as you practice your day of rest and as you learn to process those built up emotions from the week and even wounds from your past, the day of rest becomes principle to your weekly routine. You will begin to crave that time to be alone with your thoughts and emotions instead of distracting yourself. You will start to plan those slower activities that give you time to dream about future things. And you learn to find companionship with God, not feeling alone and isolated.
We were made to serve the Lord, to walk with Him and to rest in Him. Not enough emphasis on our need to rest is made. Because those that don’t push for rest struggle to rest themselves for the same reasons you do.
Be the person that lives out of true rest in the Lord, not burning candles at both ends and not running from your pain and issues. God will give you help to learn how to rest. The first hand-full of real rest days will feel strange, but then soon it will be life giving.
Take care of yourself in this way.