Rest. It's something that really is missing in our culture. That said, it's not really something we notice is missing, or something we really know how to do. Rest is not equivalent to sleep, although sleep can be restful. Rest is intentionally taking time out of your day to not do anything. For me as a student, that looks like intentionally setting aside time to not do school work: not think about it, not plan for it, and not do it. I've gotta admit, it's hard! Midterms were a couple of weeks ago, so I have been going nonstop for about three weeks now. Resting has, unfortunately, taken a bit of a back-seat to everything school related. I have had so much to do, and I was gone from school for about a week for a funeral, which means on top of preparing for midterms I was also playing catch-up. To make things even more fun, we do not have many holidays during the fall semester. We usually have a Study Day about mid-semester - a day in the middle of the week on which classes are cancelled and students have the opportunity to catch up on homework or rest in some way. Our Study Day this year has been lumped together with Thanksgiving break, which means no breaks from September 3rd to November 26th. I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I didn't get one!
This weekend, I was able to rest. But it was kind of an accident. Last weekend I had so many grand plans to get so much homework done, and almost none of them got accomplished. I had nothing else going on, but for some reason I just couldn't get everything done. Because of this, I was stressed all of last week. This weekend, a couple of friends came to visit me at school for a concert on Friday night. They stayed overnight and we spent Saturday together, hanging out at my apartment, taking a campus tour, and visiting downtown Pasadena to celebrate a birthday. I knew that they were coming, and I also knew that I had a lot of school work to get done as well. I couldn't really do school work while entertaining guests for the weekend, so I didn't worry about it. I did have to meet with some classmates for a group project due this week, but other than that I did absolutely no school work on Friday afternoon and Saturday. I didn't worry about it, I didn't think about all the things I had to get done for school, and for those two days I didn't do any of it (save the group presentation). I took the time to rest from school, even though I was doing other activities. And you know what? I feel so much less stressed this week! My anxiety level is far below where it was last week. I still have the same school responsibilities and things to keep up with, but taking the time to rest and give myself a break from the stress of school was much to my benefit.
Here is my takeaway: we often don't rest because we don't have time. How could we possibly fit in an intentional time of not doing anything related to what needs done when there is SO much that needs done!? The less we rest, the more busy and stressed we become. When we actually take the time to rest, our stress level goes down and we are able to get everything done more efficiently, and maybe even prioritize things. Some things may just go away (none of mine did, but I suppose it's possible). I have noticed the same thing is true in the intentional time I spend seeking God. The busier my life becomes with school and work and relationships, the less time I spend with God. But when I cut that time out, I don't become less busy. Instead, I become more busy and more stressed! I have learned that when I become more stressed and busy, I have to fight even harder to spend time with God, and even increase the amount of time I spend seeking His face.
"Come to me you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
Grace and Peace,
Suz
