SoulFit: Biblical Rest for Busy Lives

We challenge the idea that busyness proves our value and remind ourselves that rest is biblical, not laziness. We look at moments when Jesus steps away, sleeps, and sits down, then ask what it would change if we wore a “rest badge” instead. 
• busyness used as a badge of honor and why it fuels guilt 
• Jesus retreating alone to pray and why solitude is loving, not selfish 
• resting with others and staying connected when life gets crowded 
• Jesus sleeping through the storm and what faith looks like under pressure 
• the “sleep through a storm” farmhand story and how preparation supports peace 
• Jesus resting at the well and how pauses can create the moments we need 
• rest as recovery that builds us physically, mentally, and spiritually 
Have a great Friday, a fantastic Friday, and I’ll see you everybody next week 

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

The Busy Badge Mindset

Jesus Retreats Alone To Pray

Rest Together Before The Crowd

Sleeping Through The Storm

Rest On The Journey

Trading Guilt For A Rest Habit

Prayer And Friday Sendoff

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to SoulFit. Thank you for taking a little time to join us today. Each week on SoulFit, we just join our live call as I take a little scripture from the Bible and really share how do we apply that to our everyday life. So thank you for again for joining us on SoulFit and let's join our live call. So what do we usually what do we generally think of rest? And I think now in this day and time when we have so many things going on, we use kind of our busyness, and we've kind of discussed this before, we kind of use our busyness as a badge of honor. I'm like, I'm really busy. I got a lot going on. And the interesting thing is we use it like kind of like badge of honor, but yet when we the person we're saying that to is will probably say, Well, you will not believe how busy I am. And then if there's a three, if there's a group more than just a couple, they go, Well, you won't believe how busy I am. And so the interesting thing is, and then is what we do is we'll, well, I'm I we try to outdo our busyness. We try to, you know, share really how busy, but you don't understand how busy I am. But that is that's kind of we share that a lot. And what if we're in a group and you know, the everybody's talking about how busy they are, and we have one person that goes, not me, I don't really do much. Now I got I got time on my hands. What do we think of that individual? Typically, huh? I was gonna say we're jealous of them. We're jealous, yeah. So so that's kind of the thought, but but then also we think, huh, well, it's kind of being lazy that they're not doing a whole lot. But and we'd like to be that la we'd like to be that way. You said we'd like to be that lazy. See, you were still passed in judgment. Yeah, see, I mean, we would. I mean, that's that's just a natural thing to say, well, I would like to be that lazy because that's kind of how we look at it as laziness. But what we're really going to talk about today is, I mean, we talk so much about the Bible, right? About the things you should do, shouldn't do, all of those things. But yet, we like to use busyness as a badge of honor. But yet, rest is biblical, and it's really has nothing to do with laziness. And so we're going to talk about some different examples where Jesus rested and and how that is so important. Because, you know, we try to take Jesus as a lot of examples, right? His time on earth, we we look at those stories and what he did and and where he went and who he talked to and crucifixion. We talk about all those things. But I don't think sometimes in our busy day we talk enough about the rest that he did in his life. And and again, why do we do that? It's because we view it not necessarily in a positive manner, but we we we view it in a negative manner. And so in Matthew 14, 22 through 24, it talks about where Jesus was retreating alone. It says immediately Jesus made made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from the land, buffeted by the waves, because the wind was against it. When the disciples saw him walk on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear. He was alone, and so he was walking towards them. It wasn't he wasn't in the boat with them. Why? Because he needed and and and we think about this. Even Jesus needed alone time. And sometimes we may feel guilty for needing some alone time. Like I just don't want a people today, I don't need people around me, I don't want a crowd around me. He he told the disciples, hey, y'all go ahead. He dismissed the crowd. So we're in a group of friends, and then we maybe get with just a few friends or family and say, Hey, y'all go ahead. I need a little downtime, I need a little quiet time. And because and not only did he was he by himself, but he also spent that time in prayer. So maybe it is time in prayer, maybe it's just time alone and not around other people because the disciples required a lot from him, the crowd required a lot from him. And again, you know, Jesus was was brought to earth in man's image, and he suffered all those same same things men, mankind does. And it's saying that even Jesus needed some time alone. Maybe it was it was to pray, it was to gather his thoughts, it was to re-energize, whatever it was, he needed that time alone. So maybe our retreat looks like just some quiet time in a chair. Maybe even a retreat looks like spending an extra 10 minutes in the car at Walmart before you get out. Maybe it looks like spending an extra five minutes in the driveway before you get out and you go into all the chaos. That is a form of retreat. And I think sometimes there's guilt associated with that. Why am I doing this? I must not be a caring person. I must not be love. Would anybody say Jesus was not loving? Nobody would say that. But yet we feel that about ourselves when we need a few extra minutes before we go. Because we feel, well, I'm being lazy. It really is what we need. It's what we are designed for to have that rest. And those rests maybe look five minutes. That rest may look like a whole day. That rest may look like several days. Whatever that rest looks like, it looks different for each of us. And then again in Mark 6, 30 through 34, it talks about Jesus is resting with the disciples. So he he's about to uh he's about to do something big, he's about to feed about 5,000 people. I can't imagine you need rest before that, but he is. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people are coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran out on foot from all the towns and gathered there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Jesus knew what was coming on the other side of that boat. So, yes, the disciples needed rest from all that they had done, but also, again, they needed rest for what was about to come, because Jesus already knew what was about to come. And so he was telling them, let's rest, come rest. He was giving them permission to rest. And sometimes that looks like maybe resting with our family. Maybe it's not resting alone, as Jesus did in that first page. I think that's important that we rest alone. But sometimes it's resting with others. How do we rest with others? And we know there's people that we rest with that, or we go do things with, maybe it's on vacation, and then you have one that's a rester and one that's a goer. And those are always vacation well together. You know, but again, the rest sometimes can look a little different for each of us. Some of us might think it's a long nap, some of us might just think it's quietly reading, some of us might think it's a it's a car ride. We all have different variations of rest. And so I think you know, we have to look at that differently. It didn't say the disciples were on the ship sleeping, it just said they were resting. Maybe they were eating, maybe they were enjoying each other's conversation and company, they were resting before the crowd came. And so sometimes we we rest with others so we can stay connected. Maybe it's with a family member or a spouse. We rest so we can stay connected because life can, as we talked about, life can get busy. And then uh another example of of Jesus resting was in Matthew 8, 24 through 26. When this big storm came, and there was Jesus sleeping, sleeping away. And so in Matthew 8, 24 through 26 it says, Then he got into the boat and the disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, Lord, save us, we're going to drown. He replied, You of little faith, why are you so afraid? Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Again, sometimes we rest when we don't rest because, well, what if? Well, what if? Well, what what if? But again, Jesus says to the disciples, you of little faith. I watched this little clip on on TikTok, and it was an interesting thing. This this farmer was was interviewing a need a new hand uh for the farm. And he said, Well, tell me tell me something about yourself. And the the the hand he was interviewing said, Well, I I can sleep through a storm. And the farmer kind of like, well, that's kind of weird, but you know, I kind of need somebody. So he hired him. And a big storm came. And he tried to call his his farmhand, and he couldn't get him. The farmhand was asleep. And so the the owner of the farm woke up his wife and and said, Let's go check everything. So they they go to check the barn and and all the animals are in there, they're well fed. Um, well, we better go put the tractor up. And they go to look at the tractor, and the tractor was already put in the shed. So, well, we probably need to put tools up. So all the they go check the tool shed, and all the tools were put up. And they checked a few more things and realized that they were already taken care of. Then the the farmer started to realize and understand what the hand was talking about, what his farm hand was set meant when he said, I can sleep through a storm. Is what he meant was when the storm comes, I'm already gonna have everything prepared. In those times of peace and comfort is when I took care of those things getting ready for the storm. So when the storm happens, I can rest. Just as Jesus did in the boat. I've already I know I'll take those things are taken care of so I can rest. I can sleep. And so many times when those storms come, we can't rest. Why? Because we haven't maybe placed our faith where it needs to be. We haven't taken care of the things that it needs to be before that storm comes. And so we think, well, that's that's you're you're not being responsible if you're resting in those times of storm. But maybe it is in those times because in the times of peace and comfort, you've taken care of those things getting ready for the storm, just as the farmhand did for the farmer when he said, I can sleep through a storm. And then one of the last ones is when Jesus is walking through Samaria, and it's in John 4, 4 through 6. It says, Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, something like that. Near the plot of the ground, Jacob had given to his sons Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus tried, and Jesus, tired as he was from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. So he was on a journey, and it was physical, and he was tired. And so many times I think Jesus wasn't saying I'm Jesus and I'll just keep on pushing. He said, I'm tired, I'm gonna have a seat. And there was also a great conversation that happened at the well of Samaria. But sometimes when we rest from our long journey, maybe it's a physical journey, maybe it's an emotional journey, maybe it's a spiritual journey, maybe it's a mental journey. When we get weary on our journey, it's okay to rest. Just because we keep pushing through doesn't mean it's gonna be better. Sometimes it makes it harder because why? Because we're tired and we're worn out, we just lack that stamina, that endurance. And so we we rest. And then he had the great conversation with the lady by the well. And sometimes if we don't sit down and rest, we won't have those experiences we were meant to have. Because again, he's showing us, Jesus is showing us in the Bible that it's okay to rest. What if he kept on walking past that? Well, that interaction with the woman at the well would have never happened. And sometimes in our rest, whether it's emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, in our rest, something happens that we are supposed to learn from that is going to make our journey even better, that is gonna improve our journey. Because sometimes rest isn't about our physical body. Sometimes it really is. I need some emotional rest. Sometimes it really is. I just need some spiritual rest. And but so many times we want to keep putting that badge right on us where everybody can see that says, I'm busy. Did you see my badge? Kind of like little kids when they go like to the uh police department or the fire station and they get a little badge. And what will they do if they if you see them and they come up to you? Did you see my badge? And we go, that's cute. But do we do that when we get older? And somebody comes up to us, hey, did you see my busy badge? Did you see my busy badge? I'm pretty busy. It's not so cute because we all have one. We all have a busy badge, and and we all are that way. But is is really the challenge is that we take a lot of things from the Bible, and and it does a it, it's all good things. It's things where we are supposed to lead a godly life and do those things and follow those examples. But I think so many times this example of Jesus resting is often missed, and we don't look at it as biblical. And it's a challenge, I agree. There's times when I might sit all afternoon just watching TV. To me, that is rest. And I feel guilty about it. I have, well, I should be doing this, I should be doing that. And but then I have to remember, and I know for me, as time goes on, one of the things I have to do is I on Sunday afternoons, I really have to rest. And that doesn't always a lot of times that includes a nap. But but it might include, you know, some pre-sitting, in other words, sitting down and and doing nothing before I fall asleep, taking a nap. And then it may be after I wake up from a nap, I'm still sitting there resting. And I and I've noticed that if I don't do that, for me, the week is more challenging. I'm not as not as compassionate, I'm not always as caring. The words don't come as always as easy for me. There's a lot of things that go on with that for me if I don't take that time. And when I do, it makes a difference for my week. So I have begun to realize how important it is to make me a help me be a better person. And so I have to remember that when I start to feel guilt of all the things I should be doing, or I feel like, you know, air quotes, I should be doing. And I think about that, that that rest is important. I think we we equally need rest, exercise, we need to work mentally, physically, spiritually. We need to work all those, you know, in some parts, and rest needs to be a part of all those. Well, just as we think the physical exercise is important because when in working out, strength training, in the recovery is when muscle is built. It is not during the work. The work, yes, you tear down, you tear down muscle fibers, but in the rest is when they come together and they become stronger. It's in the rest. In the work, sometimes we get torn down. In the rest is when we build up. In the rest is where we become physically stronger, in the rest is where we become mentally stronger, and in the rest is where we become spiritually stronger. And so rest is just so important. And I just want to encourage each of you that it's really biblical. Why would Jesus do it if it wasn't important? I think he did those things and shared those stories in the Bible and all of those things because they are important, they are things that we should apply to our life in some manner. And again, rest looks different for each of us. So, whatever rest looks like for you is how you need to incorporate it into your life. And it's okay. You know, a lot of times we try to live our life like the Bible. So here is your permission. Get your rest like the Bible says, just like Jesus did, get your rest, however, that looks for you. And so maybe you start showing your rest badge and say, because when you show that rest badge, it means you can show up better in all the different areas of your life. Because sometimes when we show off that busy badge, we're not showing up the best we can. We and really we're saying, I'm not showing up the best I can because did you see my busy badge? And that's not what we want. To show up the best you can and say, I'm showing up great today because look at my rest badge. You know, kind of like our watch, what does it say? You know, if you depend on what kind of you you're recharged or you're recovered, or sometimes you get done an exercise event and says you need 72 hours of rest, and you go, well, that would be nice. But even our contraptions are telling us we need rest because it is so vitally important to make us better humans, better people to be around, better to give to others is our rest. So I just want to encourage you with that today, that it will take some work. Um, just like everything in the Bible for us humans, takes some work. And rest is no different, it just takes some work. So you got to work on rest. So I'll finish this up in prayer and then you can get on with your fantastic, phenomenal Friday. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us each together today, Lord. And I just pray for each one of us that we do find that rest that we are seeking in our ever busy lives, and those busy moments seem to stack up and they seem to overwhelm us at times. But Lord, I just pray that each one of us here today find those moments in our day that we find that rest, we find that time for ourselves, we time find that time to connect with you so that we may go out in the world and be better uh examples that you would have us be. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, everybody. Have a great Friday, a fantastic Friday, and I'll see you everybody next week. Thank y'all, and thank you, V to you, for joining us on today's uh SoulFit. I look forward to seeing right here next time on SoulFit.