In Part 1 and 2 of this blog series, we discussed:
 - How potential underlying sin(s) makes us gravitate towards busyness
 - How God views busyness
 - How busyness impacts our relationship with God and others.
Now we are going to learn how to rest in the Lord.

Resting does not come naturally to me. I’m a doer. In my eyes there is always something that could be done (especially around the house). We have been conditioned to constantly be busy and have not learned how to rest. Unfortunately, some life tasks are unavoidable. You need to work to pay the bills. You have to feed the kids. The laundry isn’t going to clean itself. But a large part of our busyness is self-inflicted (see Part 1). Too often we choose busyness over rest.

God built in us a need for rest. God Himself rested on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2). Since we were made in the image of God, we need rest too. God has given us the Sabbath, a day to be void of busyness and full of rest. A day free of to-do list pressures and full of community with God and others. But are you taking advantage of the Sabbath? Or are you using it as another day to complete your infinite task load?

Busyness is not about the tasks, and rest is not the absence of tasks; both are a state of the heart. The Bible shows us how to gain God’s rest:

Strive and ask for rest
Hebrews 4:9-11 says: “9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest…”. We should hunger for God’s rest. We should strive to free ourselves from our works/agendas in order to pursue God’s calling for us. This may take awhile to learn. It may require sanctioning time in your daily planner for prayer and reading the Bible. It may mean joining a weekly small group. And those commitments may mean saying “no” to other activities. If you pray for God to give you rest, He will!

Remove our yolk for His
Our own pursuits bring us a frazzled, rushed, anxiety-filled life. However, if God has called you to something and you are fully relying on Him, you shouldn’t feel a burden of busyness. God’s will comes with a refreshing peace. He allows us to put all our concerns, worries, frustrations and angst at His feet. He says, “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus says, “Come. Take my yoke. Give up yours. Learn from me. And I will give your soul rest.” How relieving is that?!

We serve an awesome God who loves us. I encourage you to take time to clear your calendar and mind from distractions. Ask God to give you rest. Have Him show you the areas in your life where you can free yourself of your self-inflicted burdens. Prayerfully pursue the relationships and ministry He has created you for. You may still have a full calendar, but you’ll feel rested in Jesus.