Your brain just won’t turn off. You turn on your favorite TV show and minutes go by before you realize you’re still thinking about work or chores or that weird thing you said five years ago. Or you sit down to enjoy a meal with your family, but you can’t concentrate on what anyone’s saying. Your mind is too busy spinning, thinking about everything and nothing all at once. You realize your chest is tight, your heart is racing, and you can’t shake this overwhelming feeling of urgency.
During stressful times, it can feel nearly impossible to wind down or relax. We might rush through a grueling day, promising ourselves the satisfaction of nightly rest, only to discover that go-go-go feeling of our day never really goes away. Our couches and kitchen tables and beds no longer give us rest.
If you’re feeling burned out and in need of rest today, take some time to ask God to give you peace. Jesus says he wants to give you rest (Matthew 11:28). We can ask God to calm our busy minds and help our bodies relax. These 6 verses will get you started:
You don’t have to feel guilty about resting. God rested so you can, too.
By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working. — Genesis 2:2-3
God will take care of you even when things are stressful.
It is useless to work so hard for a living,
getting up early and going to bed late.
For the LORD provides for those he loves,
while they are asleep. — Psalm 127:2
The Lord will keep you safe. Relax in that truth.
When I lie down, I go to sleep in peace;
you alone, O LORD, keep me perfectly safe. — Psalm 4:8
God can give you peace when you put your trust in him.
You, LORD, give perfect peace
to those who keep their purpose firm
and put their trust in you. — Isaiah 26:3
Find rest in the knowledge that, with God, you’ve already won.
I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world! — John 16:33
Ask God for the peace you need. He’ll give it to you.
Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6-7