Rest is Resistance

What’s fueling your urgency right now? What are you afraid might happen if you slow down?

These questions aren’t meant to provoke guilt—but to invite honesty. Because if we’re being real, many of us are running on empty. We’ve normalized exhaustion. We wear our packed calendars and tired bodies like badges of honor, even as our souls quietly wither.

If that hits close to home, you’re not alone.

This blog is especially for clergy and lay leaders in ministry who have just survived the intense energy required during Lent and Easter Sunday. You’ve poured yourselves out in faithful service—but now, as the adrenaline fades, you may find yourself wondering: What comes next? How do I keep going without burning out?

In her book Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey reminds us that “Rest is a portal for healing. It is a spiritual practice.” But like any practice, it takes time. It’s awkward at first. We may finally get a moment to pause and not even know what to do with ourselves. Dr. Melissa Sonners puts it plainly: “Women often don’t know what to do with themselves when they finally have a moment to rest.” And she’s right. We fidget. We scroll. We find something—anything—to prove we’re still productive. But Hersey pushes back: “I don’t believe exhaustion is a badge of honor.” So why do we keep wearing it?

The truth is, many of us are afraid of what might surface in the stillness. Afraid of appearing lazy, irrelevant, or irresponsible. Afraid that if we let go, it might all fall apart.

But what if rest is not the absence of responsibility—but the doorway to reconnection? Reconnection with God. With our bodies. With our breath, our boundaries, and our belovedness. Dr. Sonners calls this kind of rest “a return to your essential self.” And Hersey reminds us, “Rest is not a luxury. It is a human right.”

In a world—and a church—caught in constant motion, we are in a season of profound transition. Futurist Bob Johansen calls this era VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Within the church, we name it liminal space: the in-between, the uncertain, the not-yet. In these times, the instinct is to push harder, lead faster, do more.

But there is another way.

This is a countercultural invitation: to resist urgency and embrace sustainable, Spirit-led leadership rooted in rest. To remember that striving is not the starting point—surrender is.

You are invited to practice rest. To come home to yourself. To create space not just for sleep, but for soul-deep restoration.

Because what if the most faithful leadership begins not in doing, but in being—deeply, truly, fully present?

Come rest. Come reconnect. Come remember who you are.

Walking slowly with you,
Vicki

For more inspiration:

▶ Rest Is Resistance – NPR Life Kit Podcast with Tricia Hersey
🔗 Listen here