A Meditation on Rest

Before You Decide: Rest, Eat, Drink, Breathe

Sometimes we try to make spiritual problems out of things that may, at least in part, be physical problems.

We are exhausted.

We have not eaten.

We are dehydrated.

We have been running from one responsibility to the next without stopping.

And then, in that depleted state, we try to make important decisions. We try to have difficult conversations. We try to solve problems. We try to discern what God is saying.

Scripture reminds us that our bodies matter.

One of my favorite examples comes from the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19.

Elijah has just experienced an extraordinary victory on Mount Carmel. But almost immediately afterward, Queen Jezebel threatens his life, and Elijah runs.

He runs into the wilderness.

And eventually, he reaches a point where he has had enough.

He sits beneath a tree and says, essentially, “Lord, I cannot do this anymore.”

What happens next is fascinating.

God does not begin with a sermon.

God does not give Elijah a five-point plan for overcoming discouragement.

God doesn't even correct Elijah's thinking.

Elijah falls asleep.

And when he wakes, an angel says to him:

“Get up and eat.”

There is bread.

There is water.

And then Elijah lies down again.

The angel returns a second time and says, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

I love that sentence:

“The journey is too much for you.”

There is no condemnation in it.

There is simply recognition.

Elijah is tired.

Elijah is hungry.

Elijah needs water.

Before God deals with Elijah's future, God tends to Elijah's body.

Sleep.

Food.

Water.

Then comes the journey.

There is wisdom here for us.

Sometimes what feels like a crisis at 10:00 at night feels very different after eight hours of sleep.

Sometimes the conversation we are ready to have when we are hungry should probably wait until after lunch.

Sometimes when we feel anxious, impatient, angry, or overwhelmed, we need to ask ourselves some very basic questions:

Have I slept?

Have I eaten?

Have I had enough water?

When Saul's army went without food in 1 Samuel 14, the soldiers became exhausted. Their judgment deteriorated, and eventually they acted in ways they normally would not.

In another story, in 1 Samuel 30, David's men find an Egyptian servant abandoned in the wilderness. He has not eaten or had water for three days. Before they question him, before they ask him for information, they give him water and food.

And Scripture says, “He revived.”

Only then could he think clearly enough to tell them what had happened.

There is something profoundly human—and profoundly spiritual—about recognizing that we are embodied people.

We need prayer.

We need Scripture.

We need community.

But we also need sleep.

We need nutritious food.

We need water.

We need moments when our bodies are allowed to recover.

Self-care does not always have to mean a retreat, a vacation, a massage, or something elaborate.

Sometimes self-care is incredibly ordinary.

Drink the water.

Eat the meal.

Go to bed.

Take the break.

Step away from the screen.

Breathe.

And, perhaps most importantly, don't make every important decision when you are physically depleted.

When you are exhausted, everything can feel more hopeless than it really is.

When you are hungry, patience becomes more difficult.

When you are dehydrated and depleted, even small problems can begin to feel enormous.

So before you decide everything is falling apart, tend to the person trying to hold it together.

You.

Perhaps today God's invitation is not complicated.

Perhaps it sounds remarkably similar to the words spoken to Elijah:

“Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

Take care of the body God has given you.

Rest.

Eat.

Drink.

Breathe.

And then, when you have been replenished, return to the journey.

Because sometimes the wisdom we are looking for begins with something wonderfully simple:

Take care of yourself before asking yourself to carry what comes next.