Why should we make rest a habit?

April 27 - May 3, 2025 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Rest Week 1

What are the best habits in your life?

Maybe you’ve intentionally included regular activity in your daily schedule. Maybe you’ve made time to prepare healthy meals for yourself and your family. Maybe you’ve taught yourself to take consistent stretch breaks throughout a day.

Brushing your teeth. Turning your phone off before bed. Reading your Bible. Journaling. Turning lights off when you leave a room. Just about anything can be a habit, if you repeat it often enough. We form habits by repetition, so if you want to integrate specific activities into your everyday life, just do them. Repeatedly.

How many of us would say that we have created a habit of rest in our lives? I can’t say that. Granted, I’m a little bit better at it now at this place in my life than I was as a younger person. When I was younger, I didn’t need to rest (or so I thought). I was young. I had energy. I could run and run and run and never wear out.

Yes, you can laugh. And, yes, I fell on my face and ate carpet more than once in my youth with that mindset in place. Now, I take all the rest I can get.

But what is rest? Is it lounging? Is it doing nothing? Is it staring at a wall? How do you define rest? From what I can tell, it’s different for each one of us. We all rest in different ways. But one thing is true regardless: Rest isn’t doing nothing.

It’s kind of like the concept of waiting. Waiting feels like doing nothing, but that’s not what waiting is. Waiting is choosing to be still when you’d rather be doing something busy; that’s the exact opposite of doing nothing, even though it may not look like it.

As some of you know, my mom passed away on March 23, and for the month of April I felt led to rest. Or at least, to rest my devotional brain. There have been many other life things and work things that have been happening that prevented me from “doing nothing” yet I am re-entering this creative phase of my life without feeling exhausted. And I have the Lord to thank for that. He rejuvenates and restores His people.

So is it possible to work and still rest? Is it possible to be productive and still rest? Is it possible to achieve a restful lifestyle even if you’re busy?

Yes.

Because rest isn’t something you earn; it’s something God has already given you.

That’s what we’re talking about in this very busy month of May. Let me be honest with you, though. I’m paying attention to my mind and my soul, and if cranking out this amount of content starts straining at the boundaries the Lord has led me to set up in my life, I may have to take a step back again. And I’ll beg your understanding.

What I have learned and am re-learning is that what matters more than anything in this process is obedience. God knows what is best for me. He always has. And I want to honor His guidance and His way before I push ahead in my own strength.

But for now, this is my plan for the coming week as we talk about why we need to make rest a habit in our everyday lives:

• Monday - It’s one of God’s standards (Exodus 20:8-10)

• Tuesday - It’s how we remember who God is (Ezekiel 20:19-20)

• Wednesday - Sabbath is something we need (Mark 2:27)

• Thursday - Jesus made it a priority (John 11:54)

• Friday - God blesses obedience (James 1:22)

As always, we also have a memory verse, and this one comes from a much larger passage which we’ll talk about later this week. The specific memory verse is, Ezekiel 20:20.

There you have it. If you need a reason why rest needs to be part of your everyday life, that should be all the motivation right there. Sabbath rest is a sign to remind us that God is God. It’s what He expects. Maybe that’s too simple, but that’s enough for me.

For all of you who have been praying for me and my family, thank you. God has blessed us so richly and so abundantly with our amazing community, and I am so excited about this new season of life God has given me. He never stops working, and He’s got good plans.

Hugs!

Amy

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