REST
CLICK HERE - donate to 2024 Album
-
CLICK HERE - donate to 2024 Album -
REST
How many people need to learn how to rest? Cue the “What does that mean?” jokes…
One thing that wrecked me was when I heard “if Satan can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” If you’re anything like me… it’s easy to fall into the busy trap.
What happens when you’re busy? You stop praying… stop attending church events… stop serving… stop caring for your emotional and mental well-being. The list can go on and on… the bottom line you begin to crack from carrying too much.
Story Behind the Song
I had the privilege to write with two incredible songwriters: Jesse Phillips and Adam LaVerdiere. Honestly… these are two of the most talented musicians, songwriters, and artists that I’ve worked with. I love their heart for God, worship, and overall creativity.
Jesse, Adam and I wrote Rest in a session when none of us had anything to focus on for ourselves… so Rest song was not originally written for me or my album. It was actually written to be pitched to a church. But the more we worked on it, the more I felt drawn to the song. The more I felt like the song fit with my own album, written to tell the story of a lost soul running home… and in the process, he rediscovers God, himself, his calling, his passion, and joy.
Now, this doesn't mean that REST won’t be pitched to the church… In the music industry, the more people who record and release a song, the better it is for the songwriters. As one of the songwriters, I will just have the opportunity to be one of the first to release the song with the blessing of both Jesse and Adam.
But… why was I so attached to this song?
If you know me… you know I am all about mental, emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual health. Well, what if I told you all 5 of those areas require rest? You need mental rest, emotional rest, social rest, physical rest, and spiritual rest… beyond that, you need creative rest and sensory rest.
I could discuss each of these areas in more detail… but I want to give that floor to Integris Health. Integris Health put out an amazing article about the different forms of rest and why we need all of them. As Integris Health describes, “Rest and sleep are two entirely different things. Sleep is one form of rest (physical) but there are six more! If you’ve ever found yourself in a state of exhaustion even though you’ve been getting plenty of sleep, chances are you’re depleted in another category of rest. In addition to physical rest, we also need mental, emotional, spiritual, creative, social and sensory rest.”1 I highly recommend reading this full article (click here - roughly 8 minute read)
My relationship with rest…
From 2018-2021… it wasn’t good. Not only was I not able to rest… in all seven forms of rest. I also wasn’t getting good actual sleep. At the time I had horrible insomnia. When I did sleep, I would have horrible nightmares; so bad I would refuse to sleep at times. At one point I didn’t sleep for three days straight.
The issue is that we were not created to live on “the grind.” We are not superhuman - we’re not here to save the day, every day. The constant grind of mental, emotional, social, physical, spiritual, creative, and sensory wheels will only lead to complete and utter burnout — which I experienced on the most extreme level.
Learning how to rest again was part of my healing process.
When I started counseling with Anxiety Center, I had the inability to rest. Sounds weird… but true. If I wasn’t working on something, I felt useless or that I was like I was about to go insane. Stacey (my counselor) had to teach me how to stop and rest. I had been going full throttle for so long, I had no clue how to stop. If I attempted to rest, it sparked anxiety attacks. So I kept myself busy at all times, in all areas of my life.
I will never forget Stacey asking me, “What are you doing?! You’re not Superman!”
My DAILY assignment was to rest for one hour. During that hour, my phone was turned off. I was not allowed on my computer. I was not allowed to be at the church. I was only allowed to do things that brought peace to my mind and into God’s presence.
For me… that included hammocking and listening to music or the birds, learning how to fingerpick on my guitar, gardening, or traveling up to a local mountain overlook where I intentionally seek out God. It’s funny because, in these areas of rest, I was still doing something. But if you knew me before, it was like I fell off the face of the earth.
Stacey introduced versions of rest where I was still able to get my eyes off the darkness, my anxiety in control, and my eyes back on what truly mattered. Slowly, but surely… peace and rest back to my soul. It honestly took weeks… but introducing/forcing this practice of rest eventually led to me being able to sleep at night as well.
I once preferred the hustle/grind/get-r-done culture. But now I see how that impacted my life mentally, emotionally, physically, relationally, and most importantly… spiritually. Honestly, the negative side effects of this fast-paced culture just aren’t worth it.
I now prefer a laid-back, slow-paced, it-is-what-it-is approach to life.
Why?
If I die tomorrow (while I know I am very much loved), my role at church will be replaced within a few weeks.
I’m not Superman. God has blessed me with multiple talents, but that doesn’t mean I am meant to do everything.
My wife deserves this type of man. A man who pursues peace, love, joy, being content, happy… for me that all stems from resting, especially in the presence of my Savior.
Life is moving too fast. I feel like I was just in elementary school and now I am somehow 30 years old with a *beautiful* wife who keeps asking me when she can have babies… LIKE GIRL. I still feel like a teenager! I’m not about to be on a series of Teen Mom with you (bring in all the jokes… I know I’m going to be 80 when my kids are in college)! Haha ok ok… but seriously, I want to slow down and enjoy life, especially before me and Elle have kids.
We are biblically called to rest. I want to live my life as a biblical example… and quite honestly, Christians living out the grind culture fail at this unknowingly — I know because I was one!
Sabbath
Do you know what the Sabbath means? Josh Brower explains, “Sabbath, in the original language, means: to pause, to cease, or to rest. The word “holy” means: separate, set apart, or different. So, the literal meaning is to separate one of our days each week for pausing activity and resting.”2
Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
What is your Sabbath?
I know this is something my wife and I are still trying to figure out… As a musician, worship leader, pastor, and a nurse… our household is constantly on the go — even with the “laid-back, slow-paced, it-is-what-it-is” approach mindset!
For Elle and I… we try to take a day where we choose to NOT cook or clean. We focus on filling each other’s love tanks. We focus on anything and everything that revolves around REST and glorifying God. Now I will be the first to admit that we do not always succeed at this. Satan is always in the details… remember, “…if Satan can make you busy…”
Some people may consider rest as lazy… I consider my lifeline. If I don’t rest, I could easily fall back into my depression and anxiety. I refuse to go back to that place by all means necessary. I know my boundaries, my lines, and tools necessary to fulfill my calling and survive… Do you?
The key is to be intentional. You cannot afford to NOT rest.
Biblical Roots
Psalm 46:10 — “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
Matthew 11:28-30 — “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.”
Hope and Prayer for the Song
The hustle is honestly one of the key factors that is driving the depression and anxiety rates we are seeing in our culture today. I fell into the trap of always working… from the second I woke up, to right before bed. I cannot stress enough how NOT normal and how NOT okay this is. I am not saying it’s not okay to be busy — that’s unrealistic. But our lives need to be balanced. We need daily rest. We need vacations. We NEED to be setting ourselves apart from the grind of this world, otherwise, we will be burnt out to the highest extreme.
My hope and prayer — that people learn to rest and be in the presence of God again. He is waiting for us to enter in.
_____
David: “Is this good *shows blog to wife*?”
Elle: “*edits while reading* For now. I feel like rest could be a full book from you… but this is good for now!”
David: “…ha. Well ok then!”
“The Seven Forms of Rest and Why You Need All of Them.” Integris Health, integrisok.com/resources/on-your-health/2023/july/the-seven-forms-of-rest-and-why-you-need-all-of-them.
Brower, Josh. “Why You Should Take a Vacation Even If You Can’t.” Finds.Life.Church, 19 July 2023, finds.life.church/take-vacation-even-cant/.