Practice 9 of 13
Rest
Stopping is part of the plan.
Key points
- The practice: Stopping is part of the plan.
- Try this week: Take one hour this week with no work and no scrolling. Go outside if you can.
- The good news: You don’t have to earn your rest. Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”
What Jesus did and taught
Come away and rest
Jesus’ friends come back from a busy trip. So many people are coming and going that they don’t have time to eat.
Jesus tells them to come away with him to a quiet place and rest.
Another time, in a storm, he sleeps in the back of the boat.
“Rest awhile.”
Mark 6:31
Find it: Mark 6:30–32
Read Mark 6:30–32
30 The apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught. 31 He said to them, “You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32 They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Why it matters
Even Jesus stopped. Rest isn’t laziness; it’s trust.
The world keeps turning while you rest.
Try this week
Take one hour this week with no work and no scrolling. Go outside if you can.
Low-energy week? Five quiet minutes before bed.
Rest looks different for everyone: a walk, a hobby, a nap, time alone. Whatever actually refills you counts.
A question to carry
What helps you actually rest?
With kids
Plan one slow afternoon together: no schedule, no rushing.
A story to step inside, on FablePixels
Go deeper
The good news
You don’t have to earn your rest. Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”
You don’t earn anything by doing this practice. Why it starts with grace