Rhythm of Rest

By Tressa Czysz

This year we are focusing on five main rhythms of life. By living in these rhythms this year, the goal is for them to become both habitual, and something that we see as beneficial as we grow and prepare for the many years to come. These five rhythms are: worship, prayer, work, study, and Sabbath. The first four I would say that I am relatively comfortable with -they are pretty straightforward and are pretty structured at least to the extent of where and when we meet and what the general expectations are. However, that last one is the one that I anticipate being the trickiest for this year. Something about growing up in a culture where there's always more to be done and where being busy is not only the norm, but gains you respect and communicates to others that you are important because of all the things you have to do and the places you have to be, makes it difficult to wrap my mind around leaving time aside in my schedule to do things that aren't necessarily "productive". I use quotes there because I recognize that taking time to intentionally rest, to pray and to play, is actually extremely healthy and helps us to be even more productive when we got back to work or whatever else is going on in our busy lives.

So with that in mind, I hope to learn what good rest looks like more and more as the weeks go by. Some weekends rest may be spending a few hours kayaking on the lake, some weekends rest may be reading books for fun, some weekends rest may be taking a trip to visit friends or family, or exploring someplace new. Resting will probably look a little bit different each weekend, but there will also be some recurring themes: getting outside to enjoy God's beautiful creation, spending time alone to recharge my introverted self in preparation for busy weeks, time with fellows and friends playing games, going places, or doing something that results in lots of laughter, and slowing down long enough to be reminded of my identity in Christ and that all that I do is done out of Salvation, not for Salvation. 


This idea of Sabbath and rest also ties in well with my one word prayer for the year: listen. I am waiting in expectation to see how God will teach me to better listen as I seek to find rest in him.  I think part of that overlap will come especially when I take time to reflect on the week and all that I have heard and learned in order to better absorb and better understand what God is saying to me and what he wants me to take away each week.