Seeking Rest: Diligence

As a student, one piece of resting that I have always struggled with is the fact that I am constantly getting work done. Between assignments, leadership positions, and working a few different jobs, I have a lot on my plate, and it has always been important to me to do the best in everything that I do. We as Christians are commanded that “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and that “whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” (Colossians 3:23). As a light shining in this dark world, I know that the way I go about these pieces of my life makes a difference. In a past job, I was not allowed to talk about my faith out on the store floor (it was a retail position), so all that I had to show as a testament of the God I serve were my actions. In addition, going to a public high school meant that I was surrounded by unbelievers, many of whom found cheating and skipping out to be acceptable means for going through life. Because of this, I knew that it would stand out when I chose to work honestly and do my best in my assignments and athletics, giving me an opportunity to share why I do what I do. Even now, I am so passionate about doing my best and doing it honestly that it fuels me on the days where everyone else around me is using AI to write papers or complete assignments for them.

While this has served me well to be a testament of a heart towards God, it has also led to a lot of burnout. Completing assignments thoroughly and giving my everything during a practice means that I am spending more hours a week on schoolwork than others, and ended each practice more tired than the ones that found shortcuts. This has manifested itself into a pattern in which I put rest to the side to complete this work to the best of my ability. While I am producing a good result, I am missing a key element that we are called to as Christians, which is how we become set apart from the world. I was so focused on being set apart through my work ethic that I blended in with the world in the way I embrace hustle and never allow myself time to prioritize spiritual rest. Because of this, I want to address this issue, in the hopes that some of you that might relate can walk alongside me in this as I figure out how to balance diligence and rest.

Viewing rest

One reason why I have always struggled with resting is because I tend to view it as a sign of weakness. In a world that is so focused on success, the top CEOs and leaders never seem to mention resting their bodies and their minds, but instead push working seven days a week, even when at home. Because of this, I believed that resting and participating in activities or actions that didn’t check off the idea of productivity is reserved only for those that don’t have the capabilities or grit to do the hard things and keep pushing on. This idea was drilled into me as I was coached in leadership throughout my high school experience, as our athletic director taught a group of us how to be leaders in the classroom and on the court.

However, rest is so much more than a passive way of dismissing things that need to be done. In fact, our Biblical idea of rest through Sabbath is not just a command, but is actually a spiritual discipline that causes us to grow closer to Christ. By relinquishing our worldly schedule for a day each week, we display trust in God’s sovereignty and show how we prioritize the things above more than the things on this earth. Choosing to rest in intentional ways by putting away the schedule and investing in your spiritual, mental, and physical health is actually seen by God as a sign of strength, that we can resist the temptations of following the world’s routine and stand firm.

Resting vs. Idling

I can’t imagine the world seeing this as a sign of strength, but this mainly streams from the different ways that rest is viewed. Often, when I say that I am going to take a break from my work, I will either pull out my phone and scroll on social media, or put on a TV show while laying in bed playing a game on my phone. While my body has physically ceased from moving, I am actually continuing the mental overload of information that I already receive throughout my day. When scrolling, we see dozens upon dozens of videos, most of which are in 5-15 second increments, and in each one, our brain has to process the people, the profile, the situation, and the style of each video. In addition, our brain is switching from interpreting informational content to observing entertaining content, then finding news on pressing issues in which we have to discern whether it is disturbing truth, or false news that originated either from AI or a biased source. All of this is putting an increased stimulation on our minds, so by the time our “break” is over, we have simply continued to overload our brains with more information. The most astonishing part about this is that we wonder why we feel burnt out so quickly during a study session or a shift at work!

While rest can include spending time laughing in community, or reading to gain information, the point of it is not to see how much content we can consume to remain productive in any sense. Rest allows your body, mind, and spirit to pause from the daily rhythm and really slow down, to allow yourself to reflect and reorganize your priorities. Activities such as prayer, peacefully walking, or even taking deep breaths give yourself that space to do so, pausing the to-do list to talk with God, and remember what He is teaching you in this season. This is why Sabbath is listed as a spiritual discipline; it by nature as a discipline is difficult, and takes practice to learn it, just like any other skill. God does not expect us to have a “perfect Sabbath” the first time, but it isn’t about meeting a requirement. It is simply teaching us to get out of our worldly rhythm, to remind us that this world is not our home, and recenter our hearts around Christ to prepare us as we go back out into the world.

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So, if you are like me and struggle to reframe the idea of rest in your head, know that you are not alone. It is hard to retrain your mind when your whole life has taught you that rest is weakness. When you begin to feel as if you are crashing after working tirelessly, and feel like your righteous diligence is turning into burnout, remember that seeking true, restful Sabbath is actually a sign of spiritual strength and an ability to resist temptation through the power of Christ. He will give you grace as you learn this spiritual discipline, so stop focusing on having the most fulfilling Sabbath you possibly can, and instead allow yourself to simply be with the One that created you and is serving as your guide and Savior.