When You Find You Need Rest

As fall begins, everything tends to take a break. Plants and trees rest for the winter months, and even animals burrow deep and settle down for a long winter’s nap. Even the gray weather can look and feel tiring. As Christians, we, too experience different seasons in our spiritual lives. Sometimes we may feel like we’re warring constantly with our flesh and the devil, and at other times, we may discover that we’re exhausted, weak, and simply can’t move forward in our Christian walk.

God never promised that following after him would be easy. In fact, plenty of verses in God’s word describe just how much work we face as Christians. In fact, the work never ends, but that doesn’t mean we never need a break. Thankfully, God offers rest to the weary and comfort to the weak. If you find yourself in a season of your Christian walk where you haven’t the strength to carry on, remember that you belong to God.

While Christian apparel brands often help reflect your connection to God for others to see, sometimes you need to put on your favorite faith-based clothing and remind yourself of that connection. This post reinforces just what your connection to God can do to bolster your strength when you feel weak and weary.

Give Your Burdens to God

Sometimes we are weak and tired because we’re trying to do it all ourselves. God invites us to lean on Him as our source of strength. From the moment we put our faith and trust in Christ, we are invited to lean on God. Consider these verses:

• Matthew 11:28–29: We are invited to come to Jesus with our heavy burdens in these verses. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross. His resurrection gave us victory over sin. So we need to remember that Jesus took the burden of sin for us. We can trust and rely on him for strength to endure the weight of sin in our lives.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:13 and Galatians 6:9: Christians are encouraged in both of these verses to not be weary with doing good. We are ambassadors for Christ. Our good works show others our relationship and reliance on a perfect God, and we can bring others to know God with our testimony. Wearing faith-based clothing allows us to silently reveal our connection to Christ while we labor for the Lord.
• James 5:8: This verse asks Christians to be patient and offers a reason why we should continue living for God even while we are feeling weak and weary. We can be confident in the hope and knowledge that Jesus will one day return.
• 1 Peter 5:7: This verse can be a blessing when you are tired and burdened. It clearly encourages Christians to cast all their cares at the feet of Jesus because he loves us. We sometimes need to be reminded of God’s immense love for us so we can faithfully collapse into His loving care.
• Philippians 4:6–7: Another of God’s scriptures tells us to not be anxious but to pray—which means tell God about our troubles. Then God promises if we do tell Him our cares, He will give us peace and rest.

Why Christians Need Rest

Simply put, we need to be rested and peaceful so that we can better listen and serve God. Our purpose is to glorify God, but we can easily become distracted with how to go about that service. Then the distractions of life drown out what God is telling us to do.

God gave us an example of rest when He rested after creating the world. He looked at His creation, it tells us in Genesis, and He declared that it was good. Then He rested after completing a job well done. One day, as Christians reunited with Christ, we all hope to hear that we did well and were faithful servants for him, and then we will enjoy peace and rest for eternity. However, we often make the mistake that we need to work full-time for him now at all hours of the day and night and disregard the necessary physical rest our bodies require as well as the spiritual rest our souls crave.

Consider that we create mental barriers that stop us from the rest we need. We may think often of our fears, burdens, and anxieties or perhaps our shame over sin, and the Bible prescribes a reset of our mind to fix our focus on God:

• Hebrews 12:1–2 encourages Christians to drop the dead weight of sin and shame and keep pushing forward. We have to remember that Christ suffered the burden of our sin, and we don’t have to suffer with the shame or penalty of sin.
• Philippians 4:8 gives Christians a list of items on which we should fix or attention. We should think about godly things, things that are true, honest, and excellent. Meditating on these things distracts our attention from the weight of our fears and anxieties, especially over sin.
• Colossians 3:2 furthers underscores the prescription for our minds. This verse tells us to set our minds on heavenly things, not on earthly things. Often this reset of our minds is enough to give us rest from our burdens and offers us the strength and encouragement to carry on for Christ.

Think of the contrast between Mary and Martha. Martha was busy about the house making sure that she was the perfect hostess while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to him. Martha actually becomes exasperated that Mary isn’t pulling her weight, and this offers a picture of how we easily become distracted by earthly things when serving Jesus instead of being still and listening to him and his leading. Jesus pointed out that Mary had chosen the better occupation for her time, and God wants the same from us. God wants us to rest in Him so we can listen and respond to His calling and follow in His will.

By putting our faith in Christ, we took our first steps toward peace and rest. Even in the hustle and bustle of life, we need not be distracted by earthly things. We can refocus our hearts and minds on God so that we get the strength we need daily to serve him and walk in his ways. Christian apparel brands offer Christians an opportunity to share their faith as they quietly serve and glorify God, and we can share with others how God gives us strength to continue our walk even when we feel weary.