The Manna Life - REST
By Jennifer Holder, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
"He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." Psalm 23:2-3
“Rest. Lord, today I need rest, Your kind of rest that doesn’t wear out as the day wears long. I’m already at the end of what I have available to me, and I haven’t even left my bedside. Yet, You promise rest. So here I am, collecting my day’s worth, knowing You are faithful to fulfill what You promise as the Restorer of my soul.”
While I desperately felt my need for rest during our family’s crisis with my husband’s mental health, I often struggled to choose it. It was easier to put my hands to work doing anything other than wait patiently for God or sift through my emotions of loss and grief and face our realities. But we must choose rest, or eventually, our bodies and minds will choose for us. When I refused to choose real rest, I developed several stress-related health issues that still plague me today. Convincing ourselves of the need for rest isn’t the difficult part. Convincing ourselves to actually choose it is. And rest is more than sleep. The rest we need in life, especially in a crisis, goes much deeper than physical rest. The rest God offers is soul rest.
Believe it or not, rest is a part of the manna lifestyle. God wove rest, Sabbath rest, into the rhythm of receiving manna for the Israelites. On the sixth day, God provided a double portion for each person to account for their day of rest on the seventh day. Once again, there was an opportunity to over-collect or under-collect, to hoard or consume, to trust or not trust. Some of them had not yet adopted this new rhythm, and they showed up on the Sabbath with confused looks, ready to gather their food, only to find there was nothing there. God had already provided for their needs the day before to give them the opportunity to exercise their faith muscle in a new rhythm. Choosing to rest in God’s divine provision was another way to communicate to themselves and to God that they trusted Him.
Not only did God Himself model rest as a part of the rhythm of life after the creation story in Genesis, but it's difficult to find a time in all of Scripture where God appears to be in a hurry. Haste, hurriedness, and busyness are all opposed to rest. Isaiah 28:16 has this little nugget of truth tucked in a larger discussion about God’s Sovereignty, saying simply, “Whoever believes will not be in haste.” In fact, the only time I have found God represented in Scripture as being in a hurry is in Luke as the Father of the prodigal son who runs to meet his son returning home. The enormity of God’s love for His lost child is the only thing that compels God to be in a hurry.
Another part of receiving the rest of God is embracing the restoration He gives. It is a choice to live healed and whole, one that takes intentionality. In Mark 5:34, Jesus tells a woman He had just healed of her long-term illness,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." Mark 5:34
He addresses her healing using multiple verb tenses. “Has made” conveys that this physical healing is done once and for all and will never need to be repeated. “Go” and “be” are both written in the active present tense and address the emotional component of embracing peace and wholeness now and in the future. Like this woman, we need all three stages to fully embrace the wholeness Jesus offers. I believe rest is similar. We already have access to the rest God offers. We can choose to walk in the peace of that rest and then be restored, leaning into the energy, wholeness, and life-giving power that rest provides when we are trusting in God.
Where are you in the rest process? Do you need to embrace the healing and rest that is already yours? Do you need to acknowledge the peace that rest offers for today? Do you need to move forward in that restored state, knowing God will continue to fuel and refill your soul as the needs arise?
During our family’s crisis, sometimes all I could manage was breathing. I would run to a quiet place in the house, sit, and simply breathe with Jesus. Four counts in. Hold for four counts. Exhale for four counts. “I believe, Jesus. Help my unbelief,” I would pray as I slowly inhaled and exhaled. Or I would repeat, “Into Your Hands, My Loving Lord,” as I leaned into the rest God had for me. I would imagine green pastures beside still waters and try to feel the restoration of my soul as I allowed my Shepherd to guide me.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for manna, provided moment by moment, even the peace that can come from breathing in and whispering, “Be still” and breathing out with the words, “and know that I am God.” You gently invite me to rest in You. May today be filled with the manna of rest.
More free resources for help, hope, and healing:
Help & Hope audio stories produced by MARKINC address some of life's darkest circumstances that are often difficult to discuss yet need to be faced as we help one another walk by faith. These are the real-life testimonies of people who have walked through these experiences and have found their strength in Christ. Listening to these resources is also a way to sure up your foundation for those uninvited moments when your faith is challenged. We hope you will be encouraged and that you will share these stories with others to help them persevere in faith. Listen to the first Help & Hope podcast, a private interview with founders Chuck and Sharon Betters as they talk about the loss of their son, Mark: Loss of a Child
About the Author: Jennifer Holder - Several years ago Jennifer Holder was unexpectedly thrust into the role of caregiver at the onset of her husband’s sudden crisis with debilitating OCD, panic disorder, and depression. She had to learn and continues to learn how to care for someone she loves who struggles with ongoing mental health issues. She quickly became aware that for every individual suffering from mental health, there are more who love them and are profoundly influenced as well. While she holds no formal credentialing in the mental health field, her experiences on this journey have compelled her to be a voice for the large, often invisible community of caregivers. Jenni wants fellow caregivers to know you are not alone, you are valuable, and although the role of caregiver is often seen as an unwanted burden, it can actually be a space of discovery, joy, and connection. She seeks to bring practical resources, hope, and levity to those living in the gaps in the mental health care system by honestly sharing her journey with the ever-growing community of those who love someone struggling with their mental health.
Connect with Jenni and her writing at jfholder.com
For more from Daily Treasure please visit MARKINC.ORG.
Originally published Wednesday, 21 February 2024.
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