October: Rest is Not Wasted

We live in a culture that is really good at celebrating busy. We brag about how little we slept. We fill every open space on the calendar. We feel guilty sitting down when there's still something that could be done.

Fitness isn't much different. If three workouts are good, five must be better. If we're not sore, maybe we didn't work hard enough. If we take a day off, we feel like we're falling behind.

But when I look at the way God designed us, I don't think we're supposed to live that way. Rest wasn't an afterthought. God built rest into the rhythm from the beginning.

God Gave Us an Example

Genesis tells us that God created for six days, and on the seventh day, He rested.

God didn't rest because He was exhausted. He didn't need to recover from a hard week. He chose to rest.

Later, when God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, He told them to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. They were commanded to work for six days and then stop. I think that's worth paying attention to.

God could have created us to keep going indefinitely. He didn't.

Our bodies need sleep. Our muscles need recovery. Our minds need breaks. We weren't designed to constantly produce, work, train, accomplish, and move on to the next thing. And yet, a lot of us live like needing rest is evidence that we're doing something wrong.

Maybe needing rest isn't the problem. Maybe refusing to rest is.

Rest Requires Trust

One of the hardest things about rest is that it requires us to stop while there is still more that could be done. There's always another email, another load of laundry, another project, another workout - the list doesn't stop. Sabbath reminds us that the world keeps moving when we stop. That's humbling.

Rest requires us to trust that God is still God when we're not being productive. It reminds us that our value isn't measured by how much we accomplish and that everything doesn't depend on us. That doesn't mean we stop being responsible. It doesn't mean we use "rest" as an excuse to avoid things that need to be done. It means recognizing that there is a time to work and a time to stop. We need both.

Your Workouts Need Rest Too

Our bodies follow a similar pattern: Exercise is a stress placed on the body. When we strength train, we're giving our muscles a reason to adapt. When we train our cardiovascular system, we're challenging it to become more efficient. But the workout itself is only part of the process.

Your body needs time to recover and adapt to what you asked it to do.

That's why more exercise isn't automatically better exercise. Training hard every single day without enough recovery can eventually work against what you're trying to accomplish. Your performance can suffer. You may feel constantly fatigued. Soreness can linger. Motivation can disappear.

Rest days don't mean you've stopped training. They're part of training.

Although, rest doesn't always mean lying on the couch all day. Sometimes recovery looks like sleeping in, an easy walk, stretching, reading, spending time with family, going to church, sitting outside, or simply choosing not to fill every hour with something productive. The point is that you're allowing your body and mind to step away from the constant demand to perform.

OCTOBER ACTIVITY: Plan Your Rest

This month, try to intentionally leave some space in your schedule.

(1) Look at your normal week. When do you actually rest?

Not when you're scrolling your phone while answering emails, and not when you're folding laundry while watching TV. When do you genuinely step away from work, workouts, chores, and the pressure to accomplish something?

If your answer is "I don't," start there.

(2) Choose one day—or a realistic portion of one day—to protect.

A full Sabbath day may already be part of your week. If it isn't, start thinking about what moving toward that rhythm could look like. Your physical training should include recovery too. Depending on how you train, that may mean one or more days each week without a hard workout. The goal isn't to create another rigid rule around rest, it's to make sure rest actually has a place in your life.

(3) Decide what rest looks like for you.

Maybe it's church and lunch with your family or maybe it's reading, praying, sitting outside, taking a nap, or doing something you enjoy simply because you enjoy it. Rest doesn't have to look the same for everyone, but it should feel different from work.

(4) Pay attention to what makes resting difficult.

Do you feel guilty? Do you immediately think about everything you should be doing instead? Do you worry you'll lose progress if you miss a workout?

Don't immediately try to fix the answer. Just notice it.

Sometimes our resistance to rest tells us something important about where we've placed our trust. Then, this month, practice stopping on purpose. Not because you've finally finished everything; you probably haven't.

Rest because God designed you to need it—and because He gave us an example worth following.

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My Prayer For You

Dear LORD,

Thank You for showing us that there is a time to work and a time to rest. Help us remember that we don't have to earn rest by exhausting ourselves first. Teach us to trust You enough to stop, even when there is still more that could be done.

Give our bodies the recovery they need, quiet our minds when they struggle to slow down, and help us make space to hear from You without constantly rushing toward the next thing.

When we work, help us work faithfully. When it's time to rest, help us rest without guilt. Remind us that stopping is not the same as falling behind and that You are still working even when we are not.

Let our work, our training, and our rest all bring glory to You and Your kingdom.

Amen.