The Importance of Rest for Your Body and Your Spirit

On my morning walk, sunrise casts its glow across dewy hayfields. Breathing deeply, pushing hard on uphill stretches, and swinging my arms purposefully to keep my heart rate up, I am beginning to understand this ritual as both spiritual and physical discipline. Since exercise has been medically proven to slow the advance of Parkinson’s disease, I have a choice to make every day:

I can operate from a negative stance, and, truthfully, some days it feels as if the disease is chasing me down the road, nipping at my heels. That’s unpleasant and quite unhelpful, so I’m trusting for grace to embrace the walking and the daily physical therapy exercises as a pursuit. I’m the one doing the chasing, and what I’m after is a strong body that will enable me to serve God and my family for as long as I can.

A Call to Rest, a Call to Worship

The world outside is glorious in every season, and giving my mind to the expression of wonder over the works of God is somehow restful. Working from Psalm 92, this is no surprise:

"You, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O Lord!" (Psalm 92:4-5 ESV)

Since Psalm 92 is a song for the Sabbath, it becomes a call to rest and a call to worship. God’s work and his ways certainly do make me glad, and they are also the best motive I can think of for engaging in true rest. I can rest because of God’s finished (and yet unceasing!) work on my behalf.

This connection between worship and rest requires me to look squarely at the connection between my spiritual life and my physical life. The condition of our bodies affects the condition of our souls–and have you noticed that the opposite is also true?

Since I no longer have the luxury of ignoring my own physical decline, I am trying to pay attention to all the influences that affect my ability to rest.

• For instance, does continual accessibility on social media nurture my soul, or does it leave me feeling tattered and scattered?
• Will I profit most from another twenty minutes of reading at bedtime? Or is it more important to turn off the light and start winding down for rest?
• What occupies my mind on that morning walk, or as I drive the car from Point A to Point B? Worry and meditation use the same mental muscles. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate on scripture. Which one do you think will be more productive and more restful for body and spirit?

What disciplines shape your daily routine? Can you make good decisions today that will influence a more productive future?