Rest

Ashley Watts

I love how the natural seasons tend to follow the seasons of life that God has for me. Colder weather, leaves falling, and pumpkin spice everywhere beckons me to slow down, bundle up, and savor the moments. It’s as if the weather is reminding me to be present, to slow down, to rest from a fast-paced summer. Like the slow transition nature makes to rest for the winter…God has been pulling at my heart to internally rest. 

I like to run, I like to move fast, especially when I’m in a season of transition. Transitions can be tricky…Just like the weather transitions here in MN it’s hard to know: should I wear sandals and a sweater or full-on boots and winter gear? One day it’s 60 degrees and the next it’s 22.  We know we need to move into the next season, yet we aren’t quite sure what’s coming next, or how quickly to move. 

I like to push through transitions, because they are uncomfortable, and I want the “next thing”. Yet in this season, I feel the small prompts from God to rest. To stop and sit in this transition. To be patient, because often transitions are preparation.

My transition isn’t so much a change in something physical, but a transition of letting go of my expectations and trusting God. Yes, there are some unknowns for me coming in the new year with my family and career, but my unsettled feeling isn’t about which job I will have, it’s more about my expectations. 

This transition time is really revealing to me places where God is inviting me to rest. 

Release Expectations–Stand & Trust

Rest is God’s gift to us, a place where we get to lay bare all of our concerns, release them to Him, and stand in knowing HE knows the plans for us, and we can trust He will walk us there one step at a time. 

Sounds simple– and at the same time challenges our human tendencies. I expected a few things in my life to have changed by now. But if we are honest, most of us feel that way. We have the thought that we should be further along or should have done x, y, z by now, or we shouldn’t be struggling with this still…

Transition is really revealing to me places where God is inviting me to pause, notice, and release the “should”, to lay down what I thought should happen and make room for Him. 

Transition is a beautiful in-between space where we get to pause and ask God what His view is…after all He knew we’d be here. And here…in this space, there is something God wants to reveal.

I’m learning that rest has less to do with a lack of movement or a short break, and more to do with trusting God. Resting isn’t about doing nothing. Resting is active, it’s a position of our hearts and minds. It’s a way of being.

Rest in this season is learning to be in the present, letting go of “trying to make it happen” or “trying to figure it out”, and being right here and now. This is more challenging than it sounds, so in this space, where my humanness pulls, I get to invite God to help me. 

“Help me rest, help me release my expectations, help me to know you, help me to trust you are in control.”

Rest is giving our cares back to God and seeking him. It’s learning to live in today, and inviting God into the daily routines of life. Rest is listening for the small prompts from God, knowing he will walk us toward His will. See, rest isn’t apathy, or giving up, rest is setting our hearts on truth, tuning our ears to God, and being alert in the now. 

Rest is letting go of control, and trusting that God is with us, He will guide us, and He is good. 

Rest is learning a deeper level of trust–and that’s a trust that isn’t ours. We get to say Jesus give me YOUR trust. Help me enter into this position of rest.