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Let me tell you about the time I slept for 18 hours straight and somehow woke up more exhausted than when I went to bed.
I’m talking bone-tired. Soul-tired. The kind of tired where you’ve technically rested, but your mind never got the memo. You know that feeling? When you’re lying in bed at 2 PM on a Tuesday, staring at the ceiling, wondering why “rest” feels less like a cozy blanket and more like a weighted anxiety vest?
Yeah. Me too.
I’m 25, recently got kicked out of college because I couldn’t pay tuition, and I’m pretty sure my résumé goes directly to the spam folder of every employer in a 50-mile radius. Most people would look at my life and say, “Well, at least you have plenty of time to rest!”
But here’s the thing nobody tells you: biblical rest isn’t about having free time. It’s about finding peace when your brain won’t shut up.
What Biblical Rest Actually Means
When we talk about what the Bible says about rest, we’re not just talking about naps (though those are great, and God invented them, so they’re clearly holy). The Hebrew word for rest in the Old Testament is nuach, which means “to settle down, to be quiet, to find peace.”
Notice it doesn’t say “to collapse from exhaustion” or “to doomscroll for three hours.”
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This is anapausis in Greek, rest that refreshes and restores. It’s not just the absence of work. It’s the presence of peace.
Here’s the plot twist: You can be completely inactive and still not be resting. (If you’ve ever spent an entire day in bed feeling guilty about being in bed, you know exactly what I mean.)
Why Rest Feels Impossible When You’re Stressed
Let me paint you a picture of my typical “rest day”:
I sleep in until 10 AM (because what else am I going to do?). I lie in bed scrolling through job postings I’m too anxious to apply for. I think about how I should be productive. I think about how I’m not being productive. I think about how thinking about productivity is keeping me from being productive. Somewhere around hour four, I realize I’ve wasted the whole morning, which makes me feel worse, which makes me want to stay in bed longer.
Sound familiar?
The problem is that stress doesn’t clock out just because your body does. Your mind is still running a marathon even when you’re physically lying still. That’s not rest. That’s just horizontal anxiety.
The Bible actually addresses this. In Psalm 127:2, it says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” God wants to give us rest. But we have to learn how to receive it.
Biblical Rest Tip #1: Create a Physical “Rest Boundary”
One thing that’s helped me is creating what I call a “rest boundary.” A physical or mental line between stress-mode and rest-mode.
For the Israelites, this was the Sabbath. They had a whole day set apart. But here’s what I’ve learned: if you’re waiting for a perfect 24-hour window of peace, you’ll be waiting forever. Start smaller.
Practical idea: Pick one chair, one corner, one spot in your home that is only for rest. Not for scrolling job boards. Not for eating sad cereal while watching YouTube. Just for rest.
I found that having a dedicated prayer journal has helped me create this boundary. When I sit down with it, my brain starts to understand, “Oh, we’re in rest mode now.” If you’re looking for one, I really like this simple leather prayer journal (Amazon link). It’s nothing fancy, but sometimes the act of opening a physical book helps your brain switch gears in a way that staring at your phone doesn’t.
Also, check out my post about journaling and giving thanks to God
Biblical Rest Tip #2: Practice “Sabbath Moments” Throughout Your Day
You don’t need a whole day off to experience biblical rest. You need moments of nuach. Settling down, being quiet, finding peace.
Here’s what this looks like for me on my most anxious days:
- Morning: Before I even check my phone, I read one Psalm out loud. Just one. (Psalm 62 is my go-to right now: “Yes, my soul, find rest in God.”)
- Midday: I take a 5-minute “micro-Sabbath.” I literally set a timer. I sit outside (or by a window if it’s cold), and I do nothing. I don’t fix anything. I don’t plan anything. I just exist for five minutes.
- Evening: I light a candle. Something about fire makes me feel like I’m creating a small sacred space, even in my tiny room. These unscented beeswax candles (Amazon link) last forever and don’t give me a headache like some of the scented ones.
These tiny practices won’t fix your depression or pay your bills. But they create little pockets of peace in a day that otherwise feels like drowning.
Biblical Rest Tip #3: Let Rest Be Unproductive
This one’s hard for me. I want my rest to do something. I want to rest and wake up fixed. I want to rest and suddenly have clarity about my future. I want rest to be productive.
But biblical rest is, by definition, unproductive.
In Exodus 20:8-10, God commands the Israelites to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” Not “do efficient work.” Not “do restful work.” No. Work.
Rest is not another item on your productivity checklist. Rest is the absence of the checklist.
I know that’s terrifying for those of us who feel like we’re already “doing nothing” with our lives. But there’s a difference between anxious inactivity and intentional rest. One is filled with shame. The other is filled with trust.
When I’m lying in bed at 2 PM feeling like a failure, I have to remind myself: God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). Not because He was tired. Not because He earned it. But because rest is good and holy and built into the fabric of creation.
You don’t have to earn the right to rest.
Biblical Rest Tip #4: Pray Scripture When Your Mind Won’t Settle
Sometimes my brain is so loud that I can’t even form my own prayers. That’s when I pray Scripture back to God.
My favorite is Psalm 23. I pray it slowly, like I’m wrapping myself in a blanket:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”
I picture those green pastures. I picture quiet waters. I let the words do the work when I’m too tired to manufacture peace on my own.
If you struggle with this too, I’ve found that this Scripture memory card set (Amazon link) is helpful. You can keep a few cards by your bed and pull one out when your thoughts start spiraling at 3 AM.
For more on how to actually apply biblical rest principles in a modern, stressful life, I really recommend this article on burnout and the Bible from DesiringGod.org It explores how rest is actually an act of faith, trusting God enough to stop striving.
The Truth About Rest When Life Feels Restless
Here’s what I’m learning (slowly, painfully, with a lot of setbacks): Biblical rest isn’t about your circumstances. It’s about God’s character.
I don’t have a job. I don’t have tuition money. I don’t have a clear path forward. But God is still the same God who said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Not “come to me when your life is figured out.”
Not “come to me when you’ve earned a break.”
Just: Come.
Rest isn’t something you achieve. It’s something you receive.
And yeah, some days I’m really bad at receiving it. Some days I sleep for 13 hours and wake up feeling like I’ve been hit by a truck. But I’m learning that even in those moments, God is inviting me to rest in Him – not in my ability to rest perfectly, but in His ability to carry me when I can’t even carry myself.
A Prayer for the Burned-Out Believer
God,
I’m so tired. And I know You see that. You see the exhaustion I carry, the stress that follows me even into sleep, the weight of worries I can’t seem to put down.
Teach me what it means to rest in You, not just with my body, but with my soul. Help me trust You enough to stop striving, even for a moment. Remind me that I don’t have to earn Your peace, that rest is a gift You freely give.
When my mind races and my heart feels heavy, be my still waters. Be my green pasture. Be my rest.
I’m coming to You, weary and burdened, and I’m asking You to do what I can’t do for myself: give me rest that actually restores.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
-Courtney
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