My recent social media feed was filled with reminders to slow things down, especially after the hectic holiday season. Reel after reel suggested resting in the cozy comfort of my home and putting off specific tasks that might make me feel rushed or anxious. The evidence supporting their ideas was usually rooted in nature, pointing to non-blooming flowers and hibernating animals.
While I understand their point of view, I don’t entirely buy into the idea of a “slow and steady” winter. As a Tennessean farmer in the brutally icy foothills of the Smokies, my family and I are busy working our land. And we can attest that many animals do not hibernate and are in fact very active, day and night. Their cozy comfort is not created by rest, but by showing up for daily survival.
I fear that if we ignore the elements of nature that stick with their hard work, we won’t realize that winter isn’t always about closing the doors, hiding under a blanket, and binge-watching TV.
Meanwhile, as I nest and prepare for my second son’s arrival into the world in early April, I have found a new sense of joy and contentment in cleaning, gathering, preparing, digging, and harvesting what is alive and well despite the season. So maybe spring cleaning isn’t just about cleaning out the fridge and dusting off the shelf decor. Perhaps spring cleaning is a spiritual practice that awakens in us a desire to cultivate the goodness, wealth, and warmth that would remain dormant if we viewed winter as a three-month pause in life.
Maybe it’s not rest, but rest that makes winter less about isolation and retreat and more about measured, achievable moments of purpose and growth.
Let’s see why:
Understanding Biblical Rest
Modern definitions of rest are very different from the model left to us in Scripture. Culture encourages us to “get out,” “stop eating,” or “just take some space” from all the demands of life. Meanwhile, Christ says to show up when it is uncomfortable, to remain vigilant in heart and mind, and to gather with other believers to keep the body and soul rejuvenated. When culture cries “Flee,” God says, “Run.” When the world says, “Stop and forget everything,” God says, “Pause and remember your why.” »
The first time we see the Sabbath is when God established it after creating the world. Genesis 2:2-3 (ESV) says, “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, for on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”
God’s decision to actively rest has always been intentional, systematically implemented with something more in mind. And that “something more” was not a miserable obligation to things that drain us or threaten the general well-being of our families. Instead, that “something more” was holiness. Rest became holy because it was invented and implemented by holiness itself. So rest is never about laziness but rather about becoming more like God.
Recognize the True Purpose of Rest
Rest, as we see in Isaiah, has an effective purpose: “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and remain on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the plowman and bread for the hungry” (Isaiah 55:10NLT). While social media convinces us that nature sleeps until the earth warms again, nature actually does the heavy lifting to sustain spring, summer, and fall. Nature is literally the reason we survive all year round. (And I hate to say it, my friends, but we don’t prepare for the rest of the year—and we certainly don’t become more like God—by abandoning the world, endless scrolling, and making fun of Gilmore Girls all winter long.)
Again, I’m not saying we should never take breaks or indulge in a hobby that allows us to get away from the usual routine. I’m a pregnant mom who happily takes twenty minutes off most days and has a fun drink at the nearby cafe, just so no one touches me or pulls me. I happily sign up for candle-making workshops and writing conferences to change things up when life seems a little mundane. Don’t neglect the simple joys that honor the budget and respect God’s ways.
However, if your mindset throughout the winter season is to check in on all things, including self-reflection, prayer, desire to grow, and fellowship with other believers, that is not rest. It is withdrawing from life. Just like the bear that must eventually leave its cave to find food, you too must come back to reality. If you spent the winter doing nothing to cleanse your heart and cleanse your mind of unhealthy things, you are back in the same miserable place you started when you entered your winter hermit state.
Recognizing the Call to Growth in Scripture
Our ability to stay the Christian course requires constant growth, even if that growth includes healthy habits of rest and rejuvenation. Scripture makes this call for consistency very clear:
“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so everyone can see your progress. » 1 Timothy 4:15
“For although at this time you should be teachers, you need someone who will teach you again the fundamentals of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for anyone who lives on milk is not competent in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for adults, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14
“Let us therefore leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and pass on to maturity, without laying anew the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God…” Hebrews 6:1
“And my prayer is that your love may abound more and more, in knowledge and in all discernment…” Philippians 1:9
“And although your beginnings were humble, your final days will be very great. » Work 8:7
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourself, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless you don’t pass the test! I hope you find out that we didn’t fail the test. But we pray to God that you do not do evil, not that we may appear to have passed the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we appear to have failed. 2 Corinthians 13:5-7
“Reject therefore all wickedness, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, and all slander. As newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that through it you may grow unto salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:1-3
“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as you were taught, with abundant thanksgiving. » Colossians 2:6-7
We have been called to a continuing process of becoming, for in becoming more like Christ we find a fitting rest, one that will sustain us long after the snows have melted and the earth is ready to try again.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Halfpoint
