Permission To Rest
by: Jaclyn Weidner
Permission to Rest
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” This mantra from my favourite animated sea creature kept running through my head as I sputtered through the day on fumes.
I reluctantly sat down for a minute and a different set of thoughts came on the scene. “Why was I so tired? Shouldn’t I be able to keep going? What’s wrong with me?”
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one in the world who has a limited capacity. The only one who gets tired exhausted. The only one who can’t seem to push through all the time.
Am I lazy? Low on iron? How’s my thyroid? Surely something’s wrong with me!
As I sat there and tried to find a cause for my malady, explanations and justifications began to rise to the surface. Was I working too hard? Maybe my introverted self needs a people break. Or maybe it’s the weather, who can function in this heat!
Then, a distant thought pierced its way to the forefront of my mind. I remembered, yet again, that it’s completely normal to get tired. Not only is it how we’re wired, we were designed to need rest.
We know the well-worn passage of Scripture where Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest in Matthew 11:28. But what about Jesus? Did He ever get tired? Did He need rest?
In John 4 Jesus is travelling with the disciples through Samaria and it says, “Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.” (John 4:6)
Did you read that? Jesus was tired! And he sat down!
I tried to read through the passage for a place where Jesus said, “Don’t worry guys, I’m just going to take 5 mins.” Or where He began to share about all the things He’d been doing up till that point to explain the reason for his tiredness. But it doesn’t. It just says He was tired, so He sat down.
I know there are some tired women reading this right now. There are some mamas who have just sent their kids back to school and they feel utterly exhausted after spending 24/7 with their precious cherubim over the last 10 weeks. And I know there is a woman reading this who feels a deep weariness in her heart that she can’t seem to shake, and the worst part is that she doesn’t really know why.
But here’s the thing friends - we don’t have to know why. We don’t have to justify our tiredness. We don’t have to explain why we need a break, why we need to sit down, why we need to just “be.” Our hustle-hard culture has made us feel like it’s wrong to not be in “go-mode” all the time. But our wiring was never designed to be “on” all the time.
Remember that passage in Mark 4 where Jesus takes a nap during a storm. What I want you to realize here is that Jesus slept while others were working! While others rowed and tended to sea-worthy needs, He yawned and decided to sit that one out. Could you have done that? I would’ve been tempted to give Jesus a little side eye for that one!
Sometimes we feel like we need to be pulling our weight to earn our seat on the boat. Won’t we be viewed as lazy or less-than when we stop?
We see throughout Scripture that God designed and even commanded His people to rest. Jesus even encouraged His disciples to take time away from the people they were serving, to “get some rest!” (Mark 6:31-32)
There’s no doubt that Jesus poured Himself out during His years of ministry. But we also see Him stopping, sitting down, sleeping, meeting with the Father, and getting poured into so He could pour back out.
He didn’t wait for anyone to give Him permission. He didn’t justify why He was tired. He simply rested. He was on mission, and that would require more energy than was humanly possible. The act of resting was an act of submission, obedience, and wisdom. Knowing He needed the Father’s strength to keep going for what was ahead.
I don’t know what you’ve walked through in this past season. I don’t know what the next season holds for you. But if you’re tired, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. Being tired is simply our bodies way of signalling to our mind that it’s time for a break. That you are in fact a human being that has been designed to need rest.
Let’s go back to that passage in Matthew 11:28, the one that says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
I hear no shame or condemnation in His voice. It’s an invitation. “You, right there, the woman with the weary heart, I see you, and I invite you into a place of rest with me.” Regardless of why you feel tired today friend, you don’t have to “just keep swimming.” You can lean on His everlasting arms that carry our burdens, fill our souls, and refresh our spirits. You have permission to rest.
"Jaclyn is a wife and mom of 3 energetic and talkative little girls. She loves to dive deep in conversation over a strong cup of coffee and get to the "good stuff." She loves Jesus and after He pulled her out of a deep pit of anxiety and depression she has been on a mission to share that freedom with other women. She's the author of Tangled: A Soul Care Revival Guide, and host of the Ready to Thrive Podcast. She lives just outside of Vancouver, Canada with her husband Brendan."