Are You Afraid to Rest?
I’ve been battling cold and flu symptoms for about three weeks.
I’ve slowed down a little because my body has essentially refused to go any faster.
But if I’m truthful, I haven’t given myself permission to completely STOP long enough to truly rest.
I rest for a little while, begin to feel slightly better, and then I’m right back at it:
The next task.The next trip.The next meeting.The next thing on the TO-DO list.
Today, I am literally sick and tired.
My mother and my son have both given me the same advice: Take the day off and really rest.
So today, I’m listening.
But as I’ve been lying here, I’ve found myself wrestling with a deeper question:
Why have I been afraid to rest?
Am I afraid of dropping the ball on something important?
Am I afraid to ask for help?
Am I afraid to acknowledge that I have limitations—and that, as I get older, I may not bounce back as quickly as I once did?
Am I afraid that if I stop producing, accomplishing, helping, leading, and doing, somehow I will become less valuable?
When I sat with those questions, I had to admit that my answer was yes to every one of them.
And that realization has challenged me.
Sometimes Fearlessness Looks Like Stopping
When I chose FEARLESS as my word for this year, much of what I envisioned involved courage in motion.
Take the risk. Walk through the door. Have the difficult conversation. Say yes to the assignment. Do the thing afraid.
But perhaps there is another kind of courage God is developing in me.
The courage to stop.
The courage to acknowledge my limitations.
The courage to trust that everything will not fall apart if I am unavailable for a day.
The courage to believe that my value is not determined by my productivity.
The courage to let God be God while I rest.
That may require just as much faith as stepping boldly into a new assignment.
Sabbath Is an Expression of Trust
I need to return to meditating on the purpose of Sabbath rest.
Biblical rest is not simply collapsing after we have exhausted ourselves. It is an intentional declaration of trust.
When we stop, we acknowledge:
God is my Provider.
God is my Sustainer.
God can continue working even when I am not.
Rest reminds me that I am a human being, not simply a human doing.
There will always be another email to answer, another project to complete, another person who needs something, and another opportunity to pursue.
But there are moments when the most faithful thing we can do is become still enough to receive what God wants to restore.
Today, being FEARLESS looks like doing less.
Actually, today it looks like doing nothing.
What Is Your Fear of Rest Trying to Tell You?
If you find it difficult to simply stop, I invite you to sit with these questions:
What am I afraid will happen if I stop?
What do I believe about my value when I am not producing?
Where have I confused responsibility with carrying things God never asked me to carry?
What would it look like to trust God enough to become still?
Perhaps the invitation isn’t to accomplish more.
Perhaps the invitation is simply:
Be still.
An Invitation to Stillness: Queen ~ Priest ~ Prophet™ Retreat 2027
This lesson feels especially timely as I prepare for the 2027 Queen ~ Priest ~ Prophet™ Retreat in April.
This retreat will be intentionally different.
Rather than filling our days with teaching sessions, activities, and an overflowing agenda, we are creating space for stillness in the presence of God—an opportunity to unplug from the cares and distractions of everyday life and simply BE.
To rest.
To listen.
To reflect.
To pray.
To reconnect with God and with ourselves without the constant pressure to perform or produce.
If something inside you has been whispering, “I need that,” I invite you to listen.
Pre-registration is now open for the April 2027 Queen ~ Priest ~ Prophet™ Retreat.
Join us for a sacred time of rest, reflection, sisterhood, and stillness in God’s presence.
Pre-register today to be among the first to receive retreat details, including location, accommodations, pricing, and official registration information.
Come away. Become still. Let God restore what constant motion has depleted.
Walk on Purpose. Live with Intention.
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