Rest and Reset: A 30-Day Devotional to Revive JoySample

God’s gift of rest

Rest is the precursor to a reset; to rest your mind from wandering is to focus on what matters most. I love watching videos on YouTube where moms do a weekly home reset. They set up cameras to capture all angles as they dust, mop, wash, clean, scrub, and recalibrate their space. It’s not just the progress they make in the video, but their focus on the task at hand and following through until they finally relax, looking forward to the next cleanup.

There’s something deeply spiritual about cleaning your home and removing excess. It also shifts your mind, helping you to set your heart on completing the next task in a clean space and often resulting in a renewed mind.

When you come to Christ, we come just as we are, but God doesn’t leave us that way. He begins the process of sanctification, immediately cleansing our hearts from sin, and then shifting our focus from selfish ambition to His purposes for our lives. This is God’s gift to us: rest. In a world that is busy and noisy, promoting the idea of rising early through motivation and working hard on your dreams to achieve success can be exhausting.

This is also true of self-help books. Although these books promote a more productive life, for some, they have the opposite effect. Instead of feeling accomplished, many feel burned out because they have dedicated only small moments to devotion to the Lord through reading His Word and prayer, compared to the time spent on their business plans or listening to podcasts that promote messages opposite to biblical rest and work.

In Colossians 3 KJV, the Bible says, 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.' Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. To set your affection on things above, you cannot simultaneously covet the success of this world. It is biblical to work hard. God honors a holy work ethic. But your witness becomes stained when you are burnt out from worldly zeal instead of living from the reservoir of peace and rest.

Do you need a reset? Are you lacking joy because of your circumstances? Perhaps you need to make a decision, but you're weary because you don’t want to make the wrong choice. I've been there. I know what it’s like to live in paralysis analysis, afraid of making another bad choice that might ruin your future. Although that’s impossible, fear can make you believe it. Whatever you're facing today, you can get through it, and trust God to bring you to the other side.

If you need a reset, you can start at home. Declutter and remove items that take up unnecessary space. You'll be surprised by how this can help you mentally. Next, clean out your car. Then move on to another project. As you organize your spaces, you'll gain clarity, and God may meet your needs once you turn your heart and focus back to Him.

God has given you an unlimited supply of rest. It’s time you stop trying so hard and trust His guidance: rest and reset.

Be Encouraged.