You’ve journeyed through the past seven weeks with us resisting what everyone around us tells us is normal. You’ve paused. You’ve practiced Sabbath. You’ve slowed down, even if just for the time it takes to read these blogs.

Although our journey through the Revolution of Rest ends here, this revolution can continue in your own life. We invite you in this final week to incorporate rest as a Spiritual Rhythm.

The rhythms of rest and work are intricately woven into the fabric of the created order, reflecting God's design for human flourishing. From the necessity of sleep at the end of each day to the dormant period that follows a harvest, daily and yearly rhythms of rest are embedded in nature.

What if I told you that rest makes you stronger? Would you believe me?

In today's hustle culture, the value of rest is often overshadowed by our endless pursuit of productivity and success. We think that if we keep pushing, keep striving, and keep accomplishing bigger and better things, we’ll show the world (and ourselves) how truly strong we are.

“You're so busy!”

Maybe, like me, you hear these words whenever you turn down an invitation or decline a request to volunteer in some capacity. People don’t like hearing “no” for an answer, and when they do, folks often assume it must be for a “good reason.” In other words, they conclude that your time is already spoken for by some other responsibility or project.

Picture yourself as being made up of a series of wells. These wells contain your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy. From each of these wells, you draw on the energy you need to live. Each day you take from these wells, neglecting to replenish the energy in each one, so that eventually there is nothing left to draw on, and you begin to break down, to deteriorate, to suffer.

Our wells all have different capacities. Some of us can feel that depletion almost immediately, while some of us may be able to operate with our wells close to empty for a very long time.

As our world continues to increase its pace and drive, we find ourselves in the race of our lives… trying desperately to keep up, to achieve, to not miss out on anything. Sadly. for so many of us, the word ‘rest’ has become a four-letter swear word. 

In a society that glorifies busyness and productivity, the idea of rest is looked down on or dismissed as a waste of time. We find ourselves, like the hamster in the wheel, in a relentless cycle of work, busyness, and achievements. Not only does overwork become our norm, but it becomes our identity.

In 21st century hustle culture, the narrative surrounding rest is that it is bad, it is a waste of time, and it is detrimental to our success. Many of us have bought into a lie that says we must always be productive, always be creating, and that we must value efficiency above all else. But what if we stopped believing the lie and changed the narrative? What if we started believing our God? We could start a revolution. A revolution of rest that re-forms us toward our Creator and who our Creator designed us to be.

This summer, we invite you to join us on a journey—a journey to resist the hustle and reclaim the sacred stillness of rest. So take a moment to pause. To inhale deeply. To savor the simple pleasures like your morning cup of coffee or an afternoon walk in the park. To leave your next meeting on time and exhale with a peaceful sigh, freeing yourself from the chaotic demands of a busy world.

Chauncéa Carothers is a distinguished digital brand strategist who has had her entrepreneurial hand in a bit of everything. As a successful social media influencer, public speaker, mentor, Christian leader, and fashion and style guru, her voice is powerful and has reached many, not only directly through her own platforms but indirectly through the countless individuals she’s coached. We’ve had the opportunity to connect with Chauncéa and have been blessed by her influence within our collective.

Tori Hope Petersen is a foster mom, foster care advocate, writer, and speaker with a heart to vulnerably raise her own voice in order to raise the voices of others. Her experience in foster care as a former foster youth, foster care advocate, and foster mom fuels her life’s passion to raise up and nurture her own family, as well as advocate for the restoration of family. We’ve gotten to know Tori since she came to our Women Speakers Collective bootcamp in New York City in February