Lesson 4: Rest Is Holy

Krishna Cruz
Jan 7
2 min read

I used to wear busyness like a badge of honor, as if being constantly occupied made me important.

When people asked how I was doing, my answers were always the same: “super busy,” “exhausted but alive,” or “running on empty.” I believed rest was something I would earn later, after the project was finished, after the kids were older, after I had achieved enough to deserve a break.

But then I burned out.

At the time, I was coaching my son’s robotics team three days a week for four hours at a time, plus eight-hour weekends. I had a full-time job, a household to manage, children to care for, and a husband I was slowly beginning to neglect. I convinced myself that staying busy with my children’s activities would turn me into a “supermom”. The kind of mother who’s always on the go, never rests, and constantly sacrifices herself for her family.

What I didn’t realize was that my pace was costing me the very relationships I was trying to serve.

God showed me that if I continued at that rate, my family would suffer. That season taught me a powerful truth: rest isn’t laziness, it is obedience. Even God rested on the seventh day. Not because He was tired, but because rest is part of the rhythm He intentionally designed.

When I choose to rest, I’m not being unproductive. Rest begins when I loosen my grip and trust God to carry what I no longer can.

What rest looks like for me now:

Saying no without guilt. Even Jesus stepped away from demands to prioritize rest and prayer.
Luke 5:16 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
Recognizing rest as worship, not weakness. Allow God to refresh your soul.
Psalm 23:2–3 "He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul."