When was the last time that you rested? And when I say rest, I don’t mean laying horizontally to watch a few hours of Netflix (although there’s a time and place for that). Let’s be honest with ourselves: When was the last time that you recharged, reset, and reoriented with Christ? It doesn’t matter if our lives are busy, full, hectic, low-key, or even boring — we all need rest.  

When God created the world, He didn’t just create the sky and animals. He also created and established rest. Genesis 2:2a says, “And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work He had done.”  

Now, hold up. Why did God, the Almighty, rest? Was He in need of a break because He had just spent all of His energy? Was He in need of a nap because He was tired and lacking strength? Not at all. The truth is that God has endlessly capacity and capability, so we can rule that out as a reason that God created rest.  

God rested to establish a holy rhythm for our lives. God rested to set an example.  

“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2)  

In our simple definition, rest implies need. Rest implies that someone is weary and exhausted. But in the second chapter of Genesis, after God had just created the world, rest took on an entirely different meaning.  

Genesis 2:3 says, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all of His work that He had done in creation.”  

This was God’s way of establishing a lifestyle for the Israelites, one that commanded them to cease their normal labor after a long week of work and simply rest. It was holy to rest. And this command to rest isn’t one that came and went with the Israelites. It’s one that is here to stay, even now in our modern day.  

But somewhere along the way, we’ve started making excuses. Humanity hustles and bustles around. We are one of the busiest and most distracted generations of all time. Our busyness leads to excuses like,  

“I don’t need rest. I am strong enough on my own. I have enough energy.”  

“I can’t rest. There’s too much to do. If I rest, I won’t complete what I need to.”  

Sure, we may have tons of energy. Our schedules may be chock full. But rest is a holy command. It’s not just a command to cease working, but a command to recognize our need for God and dependency on Him.  

We need rest because we need God. We need rest because we can’t live our lives for Him without it. We need rest because it helps us get closer to His heart.  

My pastor described rest this way: “Rest is reorientation.” Maybe Adam and Eve needed an orientation on the seventh day. They needed uninterrupted time to be with God, get to know Him, get to know themselves, get away from distractions… even the good ones.  

After all, you and I were created to be in a relationship with God. What’s a relationship without uninterrupted time to get to know each other… to get closer?  

You may be reading this and think that rest will only set you back in life. I get it. It’s easy to believe the lie that our work equals our worth — that our intimacy with God is based on how much we accomplish. But Ephesians 2:8 reminds us that God’s gift of salvation isn’t based on anything we do — but everything that HE did.  

Your identity is not in what you accomplish or by how much you hustle. Our identity is rooted in WHO we are loved by — in our sweet Father who created the universe in six days and decided it would be good for us to reconnect with Him on the seventh.  

Do you trust God enough to rest?  

It’s not just about obeying His commands. It’s about trusting in the sufficiency, grace, and provision of God. It’s about humbling ourselves under the reality that God is enough and we are not. It’s about recharging and reorienting with Christ so that we can serve Him from a place of refreshment, not burnout.

Practical Ways to Sabbath Rest in Christ  

Go to church. Spend time with your family. Get in the Word. Read a book that encourages you in your faith walk. Listen to some Christian podcasts. Have encouraging conversations with dear friends. Pray often. Lay down and just be still. Take a nap. Fellowship with others over a great meal.  

The point of holy rest is to make sure it’s focused on reconnecting with God, getting to know Him more, and not letting anything of the world stir our affections more than Him.  

Tara is a podcaster, upcoming author, and founder of Tara Sun Ministries. She has dedicated her life to helping women all over the world understand and read the Bible, as well as how the gospel impacts our daily lives. Day to day, she shares devotionals on Instagram, and weekly podcast episodes on her show, Truth Talks with Tara. She lives in Oregon with her husband, newborn son, and golden retriever.