24%. That’s the increase in stress-related sick days women have had to take since 2009. Burnout and stress-related illnesses are on the rise, with many companies recognizing this epidemic enough to add “burnout prevention programs” to their employee benefits. A study conducted in 2017 found that “an estimated 8.3 million American adults — about 3.4 percent of the U.S. population — suffer from serious psychological distress.” (source)

We hope our discussion of simplicity last month inspired you to take action against your overstuffed planner and learn to prioritize what’s truly important in life. This month, we are highlighting something that should be near the top of your revamped priority list: rest. Rest means many different things, and we probably don’t pay too much attention to the rest we’re getting beyond how many hours of sleep we can squeeze in to our busy schedules. But we wouldn’t be facing the burnout crisis we mentioned above if we were all really resting – and resting well.

Answer these questions honestly:

• When was the last time you woke up feeling rested?
• When was the last time you hung out with friends? (Work events don’t count!)
• When was the last time you spent uninterrupted time in God’s Word?
• When was the last time you consciously invested in your mental, emotional, and physical  health?
• When was the last time you took a moment to just be still?

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” – Genesis 2:2-3

God prioritized rest. He saw the importance of stepping back and taking a moment to breathe and enjoy what He created… so much so that He made that day of rest HOLY. Why are you, child of God, still not convinced that rest is something you need to be doing faithfully?

It’s time to stand up to burnout. It’s time to look stress in the eye and tell it to back off. Join us this month as we learn to rest and how to do it well. Don’t continue to sabotage all the hard work you’ve put into simplifying your life and identifying the value you bring to this world. It’s time to give rest the respect it deserves, which in turn is showing yourself the reverence you deserve.

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