allume

real light living

What Actually Happens When You Rest

By

rest

I mentioned before, a need to step away from the din of the cyber-world. I quoted Thoreau and admitted a growing hunger to blow bubbles again–to sit still and rest. That was 2 months ago. I can’t actually believe it’s been that long. It feels like it was just last week.

Despite my slowing, time cruises on.

I fretted about how laying down my pen would affect my writing. “Writers write”, that’s what I kept saying. But I didn’t have a choice. Not only was I aching for some quiet, more importantly, I felt God calling me to it.

So, I stepped away.

At first, I did a terrible job of sitting still. I wanted to write, to push the words–I confess, I wanted the instant feedback that often comes with blogging. As an extrovert, that kind of stuff feeds me. (This is both blessing and curse.) I complained to God, I lamented to friends. I had a few false starts at settling down.

I wasn’t ready to listen. Yet, as much as I wanted to produce, the words simply weren’t there. I barely even journaled (something I normally do daily). So many mornings, I opened my journal, staring down at the blank page willing myself to write.

20 minutes later, I’d close it having written nothing but the date.

Instead of producing words, I filled my usual writing time consuming them. I read 5 books in 3 weeks. That’s a lot for me. Incidentally, those books all centered around the themes of quiet, whitespace, and sabbath.

Funny thing–when I finally surrendered to the quiet, I started to hear things, words began to gather again in my mind. God reminded me of stories I have yet to tell. 

I also began to dream again. I had visions. Fresh ideas percolating. Inspiration glowed at the edges of my mind–a new dream unfolding.

As writers it can be so hard to balance seasons of work with seasons of rest. But if I’ve heard anything these last 2 months, it’s that when we are quiet, we can hear so much better (a profoundly obvious truth, I know).

Taking seasons of deliberate rest are critical for the creative soul’s restoration and rejuvenation. 

If you’re feeling short on inspiration, if you’re in need of clarity and fresh perspective, try resting. Try quieting yourself, and asking God to show you the stories you ought to tell.

Set your pen down. Leave the journal on the nigh stand. Blow some bubbles. Bake something. Read a book–or 5.

Do anything other than write, that you find restful. Ignore the lie that there’s no time to rest. Ignore the voice in your head that calls you lazy.

Rest and be restored.

Q4U: When’s the last time you set your writing aside so you could listen? What did you hear? 

 

 

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing! I need to remember that; “when we are quiet, we hear better.” So often we just want to fill all the space and not spend time soaking. So thankful that God created rest and we need it just as He planned.
    Have a marvelous Tuesday.

    • Hi Shana, the books I read included Spiritual Whitespace, by Bonnie Gray, Sabbath as Resistance, Embracing Obscurity, Mudhouse Sabbath, Flannery O’Connor’s prayer journal, and I am currently reading The Rest Of God, and a couple other books. I recommend all of those!! 😉

  3. I’ve always known it’s not about quantity but quality but I haven’t always practiced that. I’m learning to do that and that means silence/listening is required. Even in small moments it can be restorative. So many of the posts here on allume have encouraged me toward that. Thanks for sharing your experience with rest.

    • I appreciate that you remind me that even the smaller, shorter moments can be restorative. I like things ins grand sweeps and sometimes, I forsake the 10 minutes in the car, or the few minutes in the shower, as not enough time, but the truth is, sometimes, those moments of space are all we get in a given day, and if we let them, they can be enough. Thanks for that!

  4. Kris – I love this! I have been learning the same lessons about rest. I totally relate to “At first, I did a terrible job of sitting still.” Me, too! But it has been SO worth it! Thank you for sharing this Truth today.

  5. Sometimes we desperately need to be reminded of those profoundly obviously truths. 🙂 Your words inspire me and give me freedom. Rest on, friend!

  6. I know, we all know these things in our heart, even our writer’s heart, but remembering to do them is often so hard. Thanks for a beautifully written reminder. I am glad you’ve given yourself a much needed break.

  7. It’s been five months now that I’ve been being quiet. I’ve actually written a fair amount. I just haven’t put much of it out there for people to read, and it’s been a really rich time, all sorts of non-bloggy things percolating inside me and pouring themselves out through my fingers. All I needed was to step back for awhile and wait (that was–is!–so hard for me). I’m so glad you’ve been in a quiet space, too, Kris. It’s helped me feel less alone in my silence.

    • I know you’ve been *away* from the online hubbub. And I am so glad that you’ve enjoyed the break and the space to simply live and dream and ponder. I’ve been missing you, and look forward to connecting again soon!! 😉 Enjoy every minute, Kimberlee.

  8. Oh Kris, can I relate! I blogged almost daily for 3 years and 8 months, then, one day seemingly out of the blue, the Lord basically told me to sit down, shut up and REST. My blog was more successful than ever, but I walked away because He told me to do so. I didn’t know if it would be a permanent rest or just a temporary one, but I did indeed rest. And I was able to see the many blessings of simple things in my life in a whole new way.

    That was six months ago. Just last week, I picked up my blogging pen again, at a new blog home, and truly feel at peace with writing again. My new blog is vastly different, more relaxed, and more focused on Him, not me. (I, too, suffer from the same blessing/curse as you, the extrovert.) Thank you for this post. Everyone needs rest sometimes, and when we listen to the Lord calling us to rest, He uses it to do so much in our lives!

    • Kirsten, I am so glad you heeded the Lord’s prompting for you to pull back and rest when you did. I pray He blesses you continually, as you seek Him in new, bold ways. 😉

  9. Your post is just what I needed to read and was confirmation that i made the right decision a couple of weeks ago. I was burned out and need rest. God has been teaching me about waiting and resting, even though I’ve been stubborn and not wanting to recently. Your words were encouraging to me so I thank you and it makes me feel OK that I’m not the only one. I’m glad you’ve been able to rest and rejuvenate…thank you again for sharing your experience and wisdom!

    • I am so grateful you found this encouraging and confirming, Beth. i pray that your resting is rejuvenating and rewarding–that you would lean in fully to the quiet with God and know how treasured you are.

  10. Reading your post, Kris, I realized that rest is risky. Stopping our work takes a great deal of faith that God will be present, will continue to provide until we pick back up. I think that’s probably why the Sabbath has always been a struggle – not just for the modern church, but for Israel as well. And probably why God, who doesn’t slumber, rested from his work. For us. This rhythm of work and rest is crucial.

    • It is risky, isn’t it, Charity. And sometimes, it feels silly to say that, because as a writer, it’s not like we are performing brain surgery and saving lives–our work is needed, but it doesn’t always feel *critical* or necessary (to me)–but then, some words do save lives, in the sense that some stories God uses to heal us, to open our eyes and our hearts, and so in that way we do critical work–though it may appear less significant…I don’t know where I’m going with this except that as I started thinking about why it feels risky to rest, my brain is wandering into all of the valid reasons that is so. Im learning that resting, stopping and stepping back is an act of faith, and an act of worship. I believe God wants us to love Him enough and trust Him enough to willingly lay our work aside and just abide with Him. Believing as you have said, that though we rest, He does not. We need the break, He does not. Thanks for making me think, and for chiming in!! 😉

Trackbacks

Categories

Archives

Google+