Reflections on Jesus:  Stillness & Jesus’ Rhythms of Rest

 By Ratesha Berthier

Trenton, New Jersey USA

Mercer County Church of Christ

Happy New Year!!!  On this first day of our New Year I would like to reflect on a few examples of how Jesus demonstrated stillness and practiced rest.  As we set goals and write out plans for 2022, let us consider that the demands on us in this coming year may not require us to “do more” and instead call for us to just be still and rest.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.” Gen 2:2

I’m ashamed to admit it but far too often my measure of a good day is based on what I did, the things I accomplished, and how many items I was able to check off the list.  I cannot bring to mind one instance when I tooted my horn at the end of the day for resting and practicing stillness.  That said, I dare not share what my measure of a good year is.

In The Rest of God, Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath, Mark Buchanan says, “we live in a culture where business is a fetish, stillness is laziness, and rest is sloth.” I’m not sure about you, but I have certainly internalized these messages.  Yet, from the very beginning of creation our Father instituted and modeled rhythms of rest and stillness. 

When I look closely at Jesus’ life throughout the Gospels, I see that He too developed rhythms of rest and embodied stillness in the midst of chaos and incessant demands on Him.  He never seemed hurried, in a tizzy, or driven to check off all the boxes. 

“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

I hear Jesus beckoning us to not only come to Him to receive rest but to also learn how to rest from the examples He set.  

“And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:37-38

Jesus and His disciples were heading across the Sea of Galilee after an arduous day.  In fact, His day had been so full of teaching, healing, and serving that He and His disciples “could not so much as eat bread.”  His own family attempted to rescue Him from this predicament but it was to no avail.  It is not surprising that once Jesus stepped onto the boat finally away from the multitude, He lied down and slept.  In his humanness, He likely felt depleted—His body exhausted.  In this moment He needed to rest—He needed sleep.

Out of our desire to please God as moms, wives, friends, coworkers, leaders, and all the other roles we find ourselves in, we as women often ignore and neglect our body’s basic need for adequate sleep.  We often continue to push ourselves beyond mental, physical, and spiritual exhaustion to get one more thing done, answer one last text, send one more email, or make that last call before the day ends.  If we are to truly become all that God destined us to be, serving to the brink of collapse must not be our badge of honor.  If Jesus experienced fatigue after pouring Himself out and honored His body’s need for rest… let us imitate and learn from Him.

^“Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.” Mark 6:45-47

Despite learning that His cousin John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus’s deep compassion moved Him to continue to teach and feed an audience of five thousand.  After the clean up crew gathered twelve baskets of leftovers, Jesus sent everyone including His disciples away.  In His humanness, He likely felt the anger, sadness, confusion, and denial that are typical with grief.  In this moment He needed rest and the comfort of His Father.  Out of our desire to serve, nurture, and tend to the needs of others, we as women often dismiss and play down our own emotional and spiritual needs.  If Jesus experienced grief from the loss of a loved one and honored His spiritual and emotional need for comfort and connection in solitude with His Father… let us imitate and learn from Him.  

“However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”  Luke 5:15-16

The urgent demands on Jesus’s time, energy, knowledge, and understanding of God, intellect, body, and power throughout His ministry were astounding.  His compassion often moved Him to serve selflessly.  Nevertheless He demonstrated for us how to get our own spiritual, emotional, and physical needs met through stillness and rest. 

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”  Psalm 46:10

In this New Year may we embrace being still so that we may know our God in ways revealed only through stillness.  In this New Year may we develop rhythms of rest that truly replenish our mind, body, and spirit.  

Questions for Reflection 

1.      What are some demands on you presently that make it difficult for you to practice stillness and incorporate rhythms of rest?  

2.      What is one concrete and specific way you can imitate Jesus’ example of stillness and rest this month? 

3.      What may be some of the unintended consequences of neglecting to practice stillness and answer our body’s call for rest?