Yesterday I mentioned that peace often comes in the form of gifts all around us. You know what else is a gift? REST.

Rest can be kind of scoffed at under the guise of I don’t have time to rest or Nobody will let me rest. Those two sentiments feel absolutely true, no matter what. Whether you work from home or not, whether you’re a mom or not, whether you’re married or not — there are always phases of time when we feel like rest is a luxury.

Friends, it is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Someone in my life may or may not have recently told me that I needed to get some rest or I was going to have a nervous breakdown. He was probably right. I won’t know — because I got some rest. The people in our lives are much more willing to help with what we need if only we would ask them.

There are scores of people who talk about rest and Sabbath better than I ever could. Two of my favorites are Shireen Eldridge and Annie F. Downs. Check them out if you’re looking for ways to Sabbath/rest, or if you’re thinking What does that even mean?! they’re good resources for that question, too.

What I do know is this: rest is essential. All the stuff I know about the brain and I still run myself ragged. I know you do, too. Are you tired? I’m tired.

I also know that in those documentaries about the oldest living humans on the planet, they’re usually in Japan and they usually have a common answer to What’s the secret to living so long? Rest. Anytime I’ve heard one of those interviews, rest has always been part of their answer. Could that be because they’re 107? Sure. But the way they talk about rest, it sounds like it’s been a lifelong habit, not just something they picked up because their bodies naturally slowed down.

But especially for those of us in our 20s, 30s, or 40s, our bodies will not naturally slow down. We have to make it slow down. By resting. We are better friends, caregivers, parents, spouses, and humans when we do.

The mind is the control center for the brain, and the brain is the control center for the rest of the body. When my mind is tired, it is communicating fatigue to my brain. When my brain is receiving messages of fatigue, it goes haywire. Absolutely haywire. That’s why we’re cranky when we’re tired; that’s why our decision-making abilities dramatically decrease when we’re tired. Kind of like trying to use a plastic knife in cutting a watermelon; the knife might kind of do its job but it’s going to be messy and probably break. When we try to maintain our same pace even though we’re exhausted, we might get the job done but it’s going to be messy and we’re probably going to break down at some point.

When part of the fix is so simple: rest.

I know some of you are young moms, single moms, military spouses, spouses who have a partner that travels all the time, so rest feels less possible for you. Some potential solutions:

• Set limits on your phone. Mine goes black and white at 10 p.m. I thought it was dumb at first (real talk here) but it has actually worked for slowing my mind down at night.

• Turn off the television. I know you want to see the last episode because you’ve binged it and you just need to know who winds up together, dead, and alive. It’ll still be there tomorrow. Go to bed.

• Incorporate FUN into your life. Play more games, go for more walks, find reasons to laugh. Laughter can do for the brain what rest can - rejuvenation and restoration. It is not a substitute, but in an overall diet of rest, laughter is an essential ingredient.

That’s all, because I don’t really like giving bulleted solutions. Your life is different than mine and you need different things than I do. What we all need, though, is rest. Oodles and oodles of it.

If you’re struggling to physically rest, at least try to rest your spirit. That’s part of what Lent is about: making space to hear from God. Without rest, that is impossible. And a spirit at rest leads to a body at rest. A spirit at rest leads to the kind of peace we talked about yesterday.

Matthew 11:28-30 — “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

May you experience great rest today, in mind, body, and spirit. May the rest restore your energy, restore your spirit, and offer you a peace and a hope for a brand new day.

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