In the last episode, we talked about the Biblical idea and encouragement behind Biblical REST. God wants us to rest and in fact, we need to rest in Him. Resting in Him will produce more rest in our life overall. What how do we go about cultivating true rest in our busy too full lives? That's what we are diving into today!

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Build better routines for your life.

This might not happen overnight, in fact, it might be a long road to setting better habits in your life. We are so use to living at break neck speeds in our society, it can be SO hard to reframe our concepts of what a productive life looks like. Today we are going to chat about a few things: Getting more sleep, getting OFF social media, being intentional with your rest time, and MAKING the time for rest.

Get MORE sleep.

"One study highlighted that we are sleeping between one and two hours fewer per night than people did sixty years ago, and two and a half hours fewer than a hundred years ago. However, ultimately the practice of getting a good night's sleep is rooted in the outworking of our theology. We believe God has made sleep an integral part of our humanity (Ps. 127:2), but as with all good gifts from God, we have a sinful tendency to refuse or misuse it. While some may struggle with wanting too much sleep, many of us struggle with wanting to make do with too little. In our productivity-mad society, we idolize activity and minimize the need for sleep. We can even pride ourselves in how little sleep we seem to need. Stories of famous Christians throughout history who reported getting by on very little sleep fuel the idea that less sleep is more godly and an example of great faith. What is often forgotten is that many of these Christians also suffered terribly ill health, and others dies young. That's why I want to make the case that adequate sleep is a far better example of great faith." - Refreshed, page 52.

I have struggled deeply with this concept. I feel like I need to constantly worry about the next step and pushing myself harder. As Ive grown in my journey, I've learned that often, I need to just go to sleep and be wise with my time. God will meet our needs.

"I believe God will look after my family, my work, or my studies. I refuse to believe the lie that everything depends on me. I believe in God's sovereignty and trust that he does not need me to overwork and under sleep to get all of the work done (Ps. 127:1-2).

I believe God created my humanity, and I need to follow his guide for maintaining it. I refuse to believe the lie that I'm unique. I'm no stronger than others and therefor equally in need of his gift of sleep (Ps 3:5, 4:8).

I believe my body and soul are so closely bound together that each impacts the other. I refuse to believe the lie that if I neglect my body, my soul and mind will still flourish.

I believe my sleep is one of the best illustrations of my rest in Christ. I refuse to believe the lie that I must be known for my sacrificial service to Christ rather than by my resting on him.

I believe in God alone and refuse to worship idols. I refuse to idolize work success and belittle sleep. I refuse to idolize late night entertainment and neglect sleep. I refuse to idolize service at the expense of sleep. I refuse to make impressing my boss more important than sleep. I refuse to idolize a perfect home at the cost of damaging the temple of my body. Our sleep patters reveal our idols." - Refreshed, pages 53-54.

How do we get more sleep?

Discipline "We need God's help to translate this conviction into action. Ask him for the willpower to make the necessary schedule adjustments and lifestyles changes."