What is the meaning of spiritual rest and why is finding rest for our soul important? Spiritual rest is easy to overlook until we face the burnout of mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Worry, anxiety, anger, frustration, bitterness, unforgiveness, and stress burden our souls. Different from self-care, soul care restores our spirit, empowering us to experience peace and perseverance when we face challenges.
What Does it Mean to Rest in Jesus When You are Weary?
The alarm buzzes me awake long before I’m ready to rise. Getting out of bed, I do a Zombie walk to the bathroom.
Feeling behind before I begin, a mental to-do list moves through the Rolodex in my head as I brush my teeth. Before I’ve gotten dressed, I worry about a family member’s health, a friend’s grief, and meeting a big goal at work. “Where is the line between concern, worry, and faith?” I ask the Lord as I finish getting ready for the day. The weight of worry makes me feel heavy and tired.
How about you? Do you need spiritual rest? Do you need to find ways to lighten the load of worries and concerns?
We all need times of rest. A rest routine--is needed to keep body, soul, and spirit healthy and happy. #spiritualrest #soulrest Share on X
Spiritual Rest Versus Self Care
Practicing spiritual rest, or soul rest, helps us bear the weight of life’s challenges. For me, emotional and mental weariness is harder to overcome than physical tiredness. When I’m weary, I often default to self-care rather than making time for soul care.
Have you considered the difference between soul rest and self-care? These two concepts often overlap. When we need rest, we tend to think about self-care or even self-comfort solutions. Self care has to do with caring for our physical, mental, and emotional needs. Soul care happens when we trust Christ with our needs, relying on his presence and help to sustain us. Here’s a few self-care things I gravitate to:
- “I need to get more sleep.”
- “If I eat healthier I’ll have more energy.”
- “Lunch with the girls is what I need.”
- “I can’t wait to chill out and watch my show on Netflix.”
It’s easy to binge-watch a show to fix our exhaustion. Though I enjoy watching a good show, it doesn’t solve the problem of needing rest for my soul. It’s easy to escape our challenges by vegging out in front of the TV or scrolling social media. The uncertainty of world events, political shifts, racial strife, and working from home creates weariness from the stress of extended loss and change.
Escaping from problems or distracting ourselves
isn’t self-care or soul care.
Self-care is necessary and important, but it doesn’t always meet the need of soul care. The burdens of life can overwhelm, making us anxious, frustrated, discouraged or depressed (to name a few). Soul care brings mental, emotional, and spiritual rest, which is different from physical rest.
What Does the Bible Say about Spiritual Rest?
The Bible has a lot to say about rest. In fact, the Bible mentions rest 548 times. One of my favorite passages is Matthew 11:28-30. Offering an invitation to experience soul rest, Jesus, our God with skin on, understands both the physical and the soul need for rest.
Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light. (NASB)
Have you wondered what it means to be yoked with Jesus?
This isn’t the kind of language we use in modern culture. The idea of a yoke may seem unfamiliar and unrelated to your life. Oftentimes we approach this verse as finding relief from our burdens. Jesus invites us to something much deeper than feeling better; he wants to teach us to live better.
To live and to work connected to Jesus is the way of a restored soul. Share on X
Spiritual rest is the rest of faith, the ability to remain connected to Christ as we live and work with Him.
Here’s a little nugget from the “Moments to Rest “chapter in my book, Holy in the Moment.
Jesus offers to help us carry the burdens of life in this vivid illustration. This passage is about more than simply giving Christ the struggles and challenges that weigh heavy on our hearts.
Three Actions of Spiritual Rest
To drill down to the core message of Matthew 11:28-30, we find these three actions:
- Come to Jesus.
- Take His yoke.
- Learn from Jesus.
This way of living is not a quick-fix solution to our troubles. Jesus invites us into a life of companionship where we walk and work with him moment by moment.
We find spiritual rest when we remember his presence and rely on his resources. Staying yoked enables us to be present with Christ. In the moment, we make choices to trust his experience, provision and leadership. Every choice to believe, abide, surrender, and trust creates moments of soul rest from the burdens of strife, worry, comparison, frustration, and so many other mental and emotional challenges.
We all have a variety of responsibilities that we carry in this life. How we carry them makes the difference between thriving in life versus feeling driven and overwhelmed. Staying connected to Christ also relieves us of feeling alone in our burdens.
Learning from Jesus Helps Us Experience Rest
One day I was having my quiet time, listening and meditating on this very same passage. The Lord dropped a question in my mind, “Who’s yoke are you carrying?” In this moment, Jesus taught me something important. This simple question relieved the emotional weariness I felt.
It was an aha moment of clarity. I was weary and discouraged by trying to carry the burden of things that really weren’t mine to carry. I realized I was carrying the burden of outcomes beyond my control.
I needed to trust Jesus because he is able to bear the responsibility of the outcomes. Have you ever found yourself taking responsibility for something that’s not yours to carry? This can be, a particular temptation for wives and moms when the lines between our responsibility and the decisions of others blur.
For example, we teach our children values, but we cannot make them embrace those truths. We can teach them what is right, but they make their own decisions about what they do and what they believe.
The old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” gets at the futility of carrying the burden of results beyond our control.
Identify the Burdens that Weary Your Soul
That morning I did a soul check: what are the things that aren’t mine to carry that I need to entrust the Lord? This is a great exercise. What burdens do you carry? Are you carrying them with Christ or trying to shoulder them on your own? Are they burdens that really aren’t yours to carry?
Depending on Christ involves trusting him with the work, process, and outcome. It is the choice to trusting him with the moment, even when the moment looks pretty messy. It was amazing how recognizing what I was was doing restored my soul. I sighed with relief as I released my concerns to Christ.
I appreciate the way that Eugene Peterson has expressed Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, get away with me and you’ll recover your life.” Soul rest has to do with recovering life and vitality that only comes through Christ. (In my last blog post you’ll find a downloadable list of verses on the resurrection life we have in Christ).
Peterson expresses some of the nuances of soul rest. Invite the Lord with a simple prayer, “Lord, I rely on you in this moment to give me wisdom and help I need.”
And it’s that quick friends, the shift of our attention to rest in the Lord and to release our burden to the Lord. This is one way of living in the “unforced rhythms of grace.” Soul rest happens as we depend on Jesus to help, teach, and guide–walking and working, together.
Practical Ways to Find Rest for Your Soul
There are many ways to experience spiritual rest. Consider a few that have been most helpful to me:
- Ask God to examine your heart and then confess any sin that he reveals. Keep a short account with God, responding when the Holy Spirit convicts us sin.
- Trust God with the people you care about. Can I get an amen on this one? Many of the things that burden my soul involve worrying about the people I care about. Bearing the weight of how it turns out for someone else creates a lot of stress. I need to trust the Lord with my loved ones because God is faithful and working in their life. How much of our weariness comes down to the fact that we’re not trusting God?
- Discover the freedom of forgiveness. Harboring offenses is one of the heaviest burdens we can carry. Forgiveness turns the situation and the offender over to God to deal with. When we forgive, we actually lighten our own load, taking care of our own soul. In our hurt, we may view forgiveness as letting somebody off the hook, a way of inferring that what they did was okay. Friend, that’s not biblical forgiveness. Biblical forgiveness acknowledges the sin, charges the debt, states what it cost. This process prepares us to pray, “I trust you with this person and situation. I choose to forgive them because you have forgiven me.”
- Pray when you feel weary and burdened. “Lord, what do you want me to know about this burden? Is there something that you want me to see, something you want me to understand about this? Help me to turn this problem over to you. Show me how to pray about this problem.” Sometimes that’s where we need to begin. When we’re not quite sure how to turn something over to the Lord, ask for his help.
- Rest the outcome of your efforts and God’s capable hands and release the stress of performance. Give God the outcome of your effort. He can relieve us of the weight of worry because God didn’t intend for us to face our problems alone.
Trust doesn’t mean that Jesus will give you the perfect answer in the moment or solve your problems in a snap. It does mean that he’s with you in the moment and you’re working together, yoked together. Spiritual rest comes as we depend on Christ. Letting go of the weight of worry, you can trust him with the outcome, even if the outcome isn’t the one that you envisioned. What helps you find rest for your soul?
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share on Pinterest or your favorite social media platform! Find more ways to experience soul rest with practical resources in my Subscriber Library.
Grab this Checklist for More Habits of Rest
Do you need more rest in your life? Discover the benefit of building small habits to decrease stress and empower you to rest body, soul, and spirit. After all, rest includes so much more than sleep. Don’t miss the free printable Habits of Rest Checklist to help you create rhythms of rest in your life. Make your personalized plan to get the rest you need.
Check Out the Restore My Soul Series
This post is one of a series. Don’t miss the rest of the series for more inspiration to help you experience the wonder of Jesus restoring your soul.
- How Rest and Solitude Restore Your Soul After Stress and Loss
- Why You Should Trust Jesus for the Rest You Need
- 15 Habits of Rest to Improve Your Life
So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
I’m with you, Ginger. I find it much easier to recover from physical weariness than the emotional sort. This post is full of great tips on finding spiritual rest. Thank you!
Our two posts definitely relate to one another. Praying in different places can we rejuvenating! So glad to connect with you today!
It is so much easier to recover from physical issues than mental or emotional. Finding spiritual rest in Jesus is so important. God has been teaching me to capture my thoughts and it’s funny because I’ve been calling it soul care. God is SO good to us … ❤
I call it soul care sometimes as well. Recognizing when our thoughts get in the way of our faith is so helpful! May God bless you as you care for your soul through rest!
This was such a helpful, eye-opening post! Thank you! I tend to worry as a mom and carry a lot. Truly trusting God in this place is so important. Thank you for your needed words that really helped me!
I know the Mom-Worry all too well! I’m so thankful these words are helpful. Trusting God is easier to say than do, but when we shift the burden to him, it is a powerful act of trust!
I have been trying to complete (if that’s at all possible) a bible study of Ezekiel. While reading ch 34 v 15 I followed a link for spiritual rest and your website popped up. I am a firm believer that God will send us what we need when we need it. I’ve prayed for enlightenment for a while about some things, and let me just shout WOW and Thank you Jesus for leading me to your website. I believe we all get caught up in worry and doubt in life sometimes. We are all still human and have our shortcomings. But your words hit home and gave me an Ah Ha moment. We get blessings at the most unexpected moments. I immediately felt a sense of peace while reading your commentary. So, let me just say thank you for sharing with others your wisdom and faith. The Lord uses others to show us the way at times and He definitely used you for me this morning. May God continue to bless you on your journey.
Hi Beth, so great to hear from you. Thanks for taking time to share how this article has impacted you. I”m celebrating your AHA moment with you. They are always such a joy when we sense God speaking to our needs through various means. I hope you’ll subscribe to my newsletter as there is a great resource on rest in my Subscriber Library! Blessings to you as you continue to cultivate peace and rest in your life!
Ginger,
I too love what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30. It is a spiritual rest we can have seven days a week. Paul spoke to this rest in Hebrews 3:11: “So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” What rest did Paul spoke about here? Cannot be the Seventh day Sabbath physical rest. Why? The Jews back in Moses’ day physically kept each Seventh day Sabbath according to one of the Ten Commandment. God said and wrote: “The Seventh day Sabbath is the Lord your God. In it shall not do any work.” And yet: “They shall not enter into my rest.”
The Sabbath rest has two rests. First the Sabbath is a physical rest from works. Secondly, it is a spiritual Sabbath rest seven days a week. The spiritual Sabbath rest is Jesus. When Jesus spoke about His rest, He did so on the Seventh day Sabbath. For the very next verse Matthew 12:1 about the gain field on the Sabbath day. Therefore, we see. Jesus told the Jews He is the real spiritual Sabbath rest back in 11:28-30.
Remember when Jesus said Luke 6:5: “And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”
How is Jesus Lord of the Sabbath? Lord what? We just read the answer in the Sabbath commandment: “Sabbath is the Lord your God.” In other words, Jesus referred to Himself being the “Lord your God…of the Sabbath.” Thus, the Sabbath is really Lord God Jesus, not just for the Jews but it is God’s Holy day.
What good to physical rest if do not gain the spiritual rest that is for each day for life? Jews in Christ’s day did not enter rest. Today, Sabbatarians also do not enter in the same Sabbath spiritual rest. Most Seventh day Adventists are just into the physical rest but not the spiritual.
It is true, Paul wrote the rest he was talking about was the Seventh day Sabbath physical rest. We see this in Hebrews 4:4: “For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the Seventh day from all His works.”
Then Paul said in verse 5: “And in this place again, if they shall enter into My rest.”
Even though Paul went back to the Seventh day Sabbath when God rested from all His works, this also how the physical can turn into the Sabbath spiritual rest here. Yet to receive the spiritual Sabbath rest is to cease from our works like God did from His. Paul wrote this in Hebrews 4:9-11:
“There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.”
For us to receive Sabbath spiritual rest of Jesus is for us to cease from our weekly works on each Sabbath to gain the spiritual one seven days a week. Paul finished with this in verse 11:
“Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
The Jews did not have the Sabbath spiritual rest of Jesus because of their disobedience. Remember how in Numbers 13 they complained about the Promise Land. “They are giants—we are grasshoppers!”
When Moses on Mt. Sinai, God told him: “Take off your sandals for you are standing on Holy (Kadesh) ground.” Isaiah 58:13 God called His Sabbath day: “My Holy (Kadesh) day.” When God asked Moses to take off his sandals standing on Holy ground, so when God also asks us to take off from work on His Holy day, should we not obey like Moses did? Know the Seventh day Sabbath has not changed. God blessed the Seventh day, no other day of the week He blessed. In the Sabbath blessing we will find our spiritual Sabbath rest of Jesus to have everyday of the week.
PS I apologize to had written a long response! I am sure you have other things to do, then read something this long.
Mike, thanks so much for your thoughtful response to this post on rest. Your comment adds much that I did not have time to cover in a single blog post. I love all of these Scriptures and you are so right–spiritual rest has layers of meaning and applications. We truly struggle to rest in this day and age–in every area. When we carve out time to observe Sabbath rest, it is an act of love and faith as we entrust God with all the “things we need to get done.” For some, Sabbath is a legalistic concept relegated to the confines of the Old Testament. But what a beautiful practice when we honor God with our time and attention as we trust Him to enable us to rest. Thanks again for joining the conversation with such depth. Blessings to you!
Life happens I say, the daily routines of caring for the home help to do all things unto the Lord so does walking, cooking, sewing, reading but I see that they are my works. I appreciate that you mentioned to cease from your own works. Let Go Let God they say much I hear. But there are deep things going on in my loved ones lives and my own as well. I see that I have to let go of my power to want to influence or control and my thoughts from centering upon self care, where to go, what to do, and soul care and reach towards the highercalling and to a higher way of thinking and truly Love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I have to fight to be selfless and care for my soul through Jesus. He is the answer. In his presence is fullness of joy.
What powerful words of commitment to your family and doing the work God has entrusted to you in a challenging season. The more we can entrust our loved ones and the challenges to God, the more we can rest in the work with less stress and worry. Finding rest is a combination of self care and soul care, but mostly faith care–casting our cares on Christ (1 Peter 5:7). Many blessings to you, Leeta, and may God give you the spiritual rest you need.