Halfway Resting Doesn’t Work

See, my church, in an act of deep compassion—or perhaps a well-placed intervention—told me I needed to take four weeks off. A full sabbatical rhythm reset. Time to recenter, refresh, and restore. Time to actually step away from the grind and let my soul catch up with my body.

I, of course, responded to this grace-filled invitation like any reasonable person.

I panicked.

I hovered over my inbox like a retiree who “just stopped by” to see how things were going. I told myself, I’ll just keep one toe in—just in case.

Spoiler alert: Rest doesn’t work that way.

The Illusion of Rest (or, Why ‘Just One Email’ Is a Lie We Tell Ourselves)

Here’s the thing. A lot of us think we’re resting when we’re really just taking tiny sips of downtime between gulps of work stress. We scroll on our phones while mentally preparing for tomorrow’s to-do list. We take a day off but still check Slack, just in case.

And then we wonder why we don’t feel renewed.

The truth? Rest isn’t about stopping activity. It’s about stopping anxiety. It’s about shifting from resting while worried to resting while trusting.

Jesus modeled this perfectly. He wasn’t just a napper—he was a storm-napper. The man fell asleep on a boat in a wild squall. The disciples? Losing their minds. Jesus? Sleeping like someone who actually trusted that the world would keep spinning without him micromanaging it.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t step away for four weeks without feeling like I was abandoning ship.

Why We Resist Rest (Even When We Know We Need It)

Some of us don’t stop because we can’t—too much to do. Some of us don’t stop because we don’t know how—slowing down makes us feel restless. Some of us don’t stop because we don’t want to face what rises to the surface when we do.

And some of us? We convince ourselves that we are simply too important to rest.

(Yes, I’m looking at myself here.)

But here’s what I learned: Rest is not optional. It’s not just a good idea—it’s woven into the very fabric of how God designed the world.

• God rested on the seventh day.
• God commanded God’s people to rest.
• Jesus himself withdrew from crowds and left urgent needs unmet—to rest.

Yet somehow, we think we can outwork Jesus.

We buy into the world’s lie that wisdom is something you achieve, when Scripture tells us that wisdom is something you receive. That’s why Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 2:

“We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.”

Wisdom doesn’t come from hustling harder. It comes from stepping back long enough to actually listen.

Rest Is Not a Reward—It’s a Rhythm

Most of us treat rest like a reward for exhaustion. Work yourself to the bone, and then you get a break.

But that’s not how God designed it.

God didn’t rest because God was exhausted. God rested because it was finished. And in that rest, God delighted in the goodness of what had been created.

That’s the pattern. Work, then rest. Create, then delight. Move, then stop. Act, then Reflect.

Not because we’ve collapsed in burnout, but because we were never made to function without a rhythm of renewal.

So, How Do We Actually Rest?

Let’s be real—our culture doesn’t make rest easy. The world keeps telling us we need to be more productive, more efficient, more optimized. If you try to rest, the world will immediately suggest ways to make your rest more strategic.

• Can’t just take a walk? Track your steps and optimize your heart rate!
• Want to read a book? Why not speed-read for maximum retention!
• Thinking of taking a nap? Better make it 26 minutes—science says that’s optimal!

See what I mean? We’ve turned rest into a strategy instead of a state of trust.

So let me offer three countercultural, Jesus-approved ways to actually rest.

1. Stop Performing Rest and Just Take It

Rest isn’t something you achieve—it’s something you receive. Which means, you don’t have to optimize it.

And yet, somehow, we’ve let professionals convince us we need “sleep hygiene”—a phrase that sounds less like restful renewal and more like something that requires bleach and rubber gloves.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I appreciate good sleep. But maybe we don’t need to treat it like a clinical procedure. Maybe we can just let ourselves enjoy rest without tracking, measuring, and optimizing it into oblivion.

• Turn off your phone. (No, really. No “just one more scroll.”)
• Let yourself be bored. (Your brain will be fine.)
• Do something for joy, not for efficiency. (Read a book slowly. Take a nap without an alarm. Eat a meal without multitasking.)

2. Trust That Rest Is Part of Faithfulness

For some of us, rest feels like neglecting our responsibilities. Like stepping away means dropping the ball.

But Jesus—the one we worship as Savior of the world—stepped away.

Jesus left people in need to pray.
Jesus let crowds go unmet so he could rest.
Jesus took breaks from teaching to be alone.

If Jesus himself did this, why do we think we’re the exception?

Rest isn’t a failure of faithfulness. It’s proof of it.

If we can’t stop working, it means we don’t actually trust that God is at work.

3. Build a ‘Sabbath Rhythm,’ Not Just a Break

True rest isn’t a one-time escape—it’s a pattern.

• Daily moments of stillness (even five minutes away from your phone counts).
• Weekly sabbath rhythms (a real break from work, not “just catching up” on everything else).
• Seasonal renewal (time to stop, reflect, and reset).

When we embrace this, rest stops feeling like an indulgence and starts feeling like what it actually is—obedience.

The Takeaway: Rest Isn’t Weakness. It’s Wisdom.

The world will keep trying to convince you that you’re only as valuable as your productivity.

Jesus, on the other hand, calls you to a different kind of life.

A life where you don’t have to grind yourself into the ground to prove your worth.
A life where you don’t have to earn rest—you just take it.
A life where wisdom isn’t achieved through hustle, but received in stillness.

And trust me—when you finally rest like you mean it?

You don’t just recover. You come back renewed.