When You Had Awesome New Years Goals but God Asks You to Rest Instead

I’m not really into New Years resolutions, but I had a list of awesome New Years goals lined up. I had a lot of really great content for the blog lined up to go along with all of them. But over the last few days I’ve had this really strong sense that instead of pushing harder, God is calling me to rest.

The words “rest,” “seated,” and “deeply rooted” have played through my head continually over the past few days. As I’ve been mulling them over, they’ve been echoed by so many sources around me. You know how that is when God starts speaking to your heart about something and then all of a sudden you see and hear it everywhere you turn? Yeah. It’s been like that.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to my natural self. It’s January. It feels like it’s the time to push and strive and amp myself up to conquer and accomplish.

And yet, I feel this nudge to rest.

To be still.

To learn how to be seated before the Lord with an unhurried heart, even as all of the other important tasks and goals sit around me undone and unconquered.

Isn’t it just like the Lord to ask us to do something that is so opposite of what makes sense in our finite understanding?

Let’s be real… I’m tired.

Can I be totally honest and transparent with you?

I’m exhausted.

I want to be the mom that my kids need. I want to be emotionally present and engaged with them. I want to be that awesome homeschool mom. I want to be a good wife. I want to be a good employee. I want to cook my family healthy food. I want to keep a tight reign on the budget. I want to keep my house tidy and I would like to at least occasionally be able to find a piece of clothing that is clean and not wrinkled from sitting at the bottom of a laundry basket for a week. I want to be that friend that’s always there when she’s needed. I want to work hard towards all of the dreams that God has placed on my heart.

But I’m just plain exhausted.

And I wonder if you might feel a little like that too.

How many times do we take on all the tasks, all the callings, all the commitments… all the things. And we try and we strive and we push because we think that we can do it all.

And then when we feel tired and overwhelmed we figure that if we can just find the right combination of planning and time management and life hacks we might be able to actually handle all of it. So we keep looking for the right combination and we keep trying all the tricks but at the end of the day we’re still tired and exhausted.

Too tired to do any of it well.

Maybe we’ve forgotten that God calls us to rest.

Maybe we’re taking on things He didn’t call us to take on.

Or maybe we’re taking on all of the things He did call us to, but we’re trying to do it in our own power instead of through His power.

Rest is Important to God

Rest is so important to God that He modeled it for us at the very beginning of the book!

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” Genesis 2:2

Then out of the ten commandments he gave to his people, rest made #4! That’s pretty significant.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

But it’s not just an Old Testament principle. In the New Testament Jesus didn’t just command rest, he invited us to rest.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (emphasis added).

What do we do with His invitation to rest?

So when I thought I would be striving, pushing, and conquering, instead I’m going to be obedient and rest.

I don’t know exactly what that’s supposed to look like. Jesus knows that I have awesome New Years goals. Goals that are honoring to him and will bring value to my family and those around me.

But He also knows what I need more than I do. So I will rest when He says to rest.

I will slow down and listen for His still small voice to speak to me. I will be seated at His feet, because it’s the place where He fills me up so that I can then go and pursue all the awesome New Years goals from a place of fullness, instead of a place of lack.

There’s nothing wrong with pursuing good goals. There is certainly a time and a place to do that. But I wonder if anyone else out there is in the same boat as me. Do you need to accept His invitation to rest? Do you want to figure out what this looks like with me?

If something about this has resonated with you, let’s do this together. Grab your Bible. Grab your journal. Let’s figure out what it looks like to prioritize resting with Jesus, in the midst of the busy mom life.