Quiet rest
Sometimes we just need a break!
Part of achieving and maintaining wellness depends on having opportunities for quiet rest.
This past week, I’ve been away at a writer’s conference. The event hosted more than five hundred people and consisted of praise and worship services, inspiring speakers, informative classes, individual meetings for feedback, and noisy, enjoyable group meals. Yet, in many ways, I found this conference to be a place of quiet rest. Meetings and classes were ongoing, but the setting allowed time to escape for meditation, self-reflection, and prayer.
Isn’t that a lovely spot to escape from the hustle, bustle, and stress of our daily lives? Listening to a stream of water can be comforting and soothing to our frayed emotions. Do you have a quiet place of rest when the stress of the world wearies you?
Though I often need a place of quiet rest, it’s sometimes difficult to find an opportunity to get away from the requirements of work and family. I’m sure you face the same dilemma. Many times our responsibilities (or guilt) don’t allow us to choose quiet time. Young parents are likely to struggle to find any quiet rest as they juggle careers, child care, and a plethora of family tasks.
But, rest is important…
Rest is not idleness, and to lie somewhere on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” John Lubbock
Taking a walk in nature can also be an opportunity to seek solitude and respite from stress. Strolling through nature’s beauty can bring peace to our troubled souls.
In our quiet time, we can talk to God. In the quiet presence of our Lord, we can pour out all our frustrations, anxieties, and pain. Quiet time provides us with opportunities to think through problems, voice our dreams, and plan for our future.
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Isaiah 32:17-18
Quiet time is important for us on a regular basis, but especially so when we are burdened with trials, sorrow, frustration, or anxiety.
Do you have regular quiet time? What’s your favorite place of rest?
Jesus said: