Written by Annika Van Keulen
Luke 22:39-46
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
For the past few years - especially recently - I have been told that I need to rest. To slow down. To stop filling every moment of my life with something productive. To be honest, I never fully understood what that actually meant. Rest sounds relaxing in theory, but putting that into practice can make you feel uncomfortable. It feels unproductive. It feels like I’m wasting valuable time.
In Luke 22:39–46, Jesus withdraws from His disciples and goes to the Mount of Olives.He kneels and prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” The two things that stand out to me most are first that Jesusintentionally stepped away to be alone with God, and secondly, he got on His knees in order to surrender. Jesus went to a place where He could be found easily by Judas, because the Father told Him to go. He chose the Father’s plan, regardless of the outcome, because God sees the bigger picture, even when we don’t.
I think we misunderstand and complicate what rest really is. We treat the Sabbath like a box to check off on our list - going to church, being in fellowship, and then right back to our busy lives. But rest is more than inactivity. It is surrender. It is making the choice to trust God with whatever the outcome is instead of trying to control everything ourselves. And that surrender we choose isn’t a once-a-week practice, it’s an everyday choice to fixate our hearts on Him and slow down. It is choosing God in the midst of the chaos - the busyness, the distractions, the wants and needs of the flesh. If we only turn to God on Sunday, then we have missed the whole point.
Rest is waking up on Monday ready to choose Him before anything else - whether that’s listening to worship music while getting ready, going on a prayer walk, or opening your Bible before opening your phone. When I was dwelling on this passage, I immediately thought of the song Monday Morning Faith by Chelsea Plank and SEU Worship. It captures this idea so well - that it’s easy to worship when we aren't busy, and when it's convenient to us, but much harder to carry that same faith into the busy, ordinary moments of our week. Taking the Sabbath in a genuine way isn’t a once-a-week thing, it should become a rhythm. It’s learning to realign our priorities and make Him the focal point of every day.
If I’m honest, I wrestle with this, as I am sure some of you do, too. Being busy makes me feel useful. It makes me feel ahead. But sometimes busyness is just avoidance - avoiding silence,avoiding dependence, avoiding the uncomfortable space where God reshapes my heart. Rest forces me to admit that I am not in control.
There was a moment when even writing this devotional felt ironic. How can I write about rest when I struggle to implement it in my own life? But I think that’s the point. Rest is not something we can master by ourselves, it is something we need God to help us with.
Rest is not laziness. It is obedience. It is kneeling down and saying, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” It is trusting that God can accomplish much more through my surrender than I ever could do alone, and humbling ourselves to that idea.
Prayer Prompts:
When you think of rest, do you see it as uncomfortable and not being productive, or do you see it as a way to be obedient and surrender to God? Why or why not? As you work through that answer, pray and ask God to help you dwell in His presence and change your perspective on rest.
Ask God for wisdom on spending your time wisely and discipline to make rest a proper priority in your life.
