Wake Up to Rest

Rest doesn’t always come naturally to us. We live in a culture that prizes hustle, performance, and achievement. Even as believers, it’s easy to carry that mindset into our walk with God, thinking we need to do more, try harder, or prove ourselves to Him. But faith isn’t about striving. It’s about trusting.

We sometimes talk about inviting Jesus into our hearts, but the truth is even bigger: God is inviting us into Him. Into His life, His presence, His Kingdom. That means we don’t carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. We don’t have to strive to make everything happen in our own strength. Instead, we get to rest in what He’s already doing and walk with Him in it.

This is why Jesus called His yoke easy and His burden light. When we walk in step with Him, obedience doesn’t feel like drudgery—it feels like joy. Loving people isn’t another exhausting item on a checklist. It’s the overflow of being with Him. Life with God is not something we have to do for Him; it’s something we get to do with Him.

The trap is when we flip that around, when we try to serve God on our own, in our own effort, apart from His presence. That’s when faith feels heavy, joyless, and exhausting. But that was never God’s design. He isn’t looking for employees or performers; He’s looking for sons and daughters who will walk beside Him, resting in His strength.

Rest is not laziness. Rest is trust. It’s the posture of a heart that believes God is faithful enough to finish the work He started. To wake up your faith, you have to wake up to rest.

Reflect: Where are you striving in your own strength instead of resting in God’s? What would it look like to lay that burden down today and walk in His rest?