When I first shared with family members and a few close friends my idea to start The Rest Stop, everyone was incredibly supportive. One question I was asked though was, “Just how long can you write about rest and life balance before you run out of topics to discuss?” Fair question. If all I was going to write about was physical rest and taking a day off during the week, then The Rest Stop would be short lived, consisting of two or three dozen posts and that would be it. But as I discovered over the past four years, there is so much more to rest than I previously had understood. So, I’d like to take a couple of minutes to describe various types of rest.

There is the rest of taking time after a period of exertion or labor. Rest that comes from leisure time and relaxation. There is the rest and refreshment from sleep. The rest that comes from silence and solitude. Rest is so much more though than the absence or cessation of activity. There is the idea of resting to, and resting from. Resting to recharge, replenish, restore, and recover. Resting to gain peace in our hearts and minds. Resting from strenuous labor, physical weariness, or from the need for power, prestige, more possessions, money, or control.

Rest goes well beyond the physical. Rest includes relief or freedom, especially from anything that wearies, troubles, or disturbs. Rest can be experienced during activity, in times of conflict, or when under pressure.

There are so many things I have learned about mental, emotional, and spiritual rest during this journey. The most difficult area to gain rest for me personally has been mentally. There is always a dialogue going on in my head, the incessant conversations, and thought patterns that go on in my mind are exhausting. The questions, the accusations, the arguments, and at times guilt, often results in restlessness.

For me this has been a step-by-step process that has gradually led to a more serene, tranquil, and quiet life. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2 exhorts us to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Ecclesiastes 4:6 says, “One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.” There are dozens of decisions and lifestyle changes we can make that lead not just to quantitative rest but also qualitative rest.

Finally, there is the rest that is only found in Jesus. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” The cornerstone verse that I’ve chosen for The Rest Stop is Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

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