The Narrow Way

I didn’t always know how to rest.

Not real rest. Not soul-deep rest.
Not the kind of rest that says, “I’m safe now.”
I knew how to work. How to push. How to endure.
I knew how to hold it together when I was falling apart.
How to serve when I was empty.
How to smile when I was breaking.

But Jesus is teaching me a better way.

He’s teaching me how to rest.

And I don’t mean rest like a nap, or a day off, or five minutes of quiet.
I mean the kind of rest that heals. The kind that restores.
The kind of rest where I finally stop running from my own heart and let Him hold all the pieces.

Because survival taught me how to keep going.
But Jesus is teaching me how to be still.

He’s showing me that I’m not more loved when I’m producing.
Not more valuable when I’m performing.
Not more worthy when I’m pleasing everyone.

I am loved because I belong to Him.
And that’s enough.

He says in Matthew 11:28,
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
That’s not just a sweet invitation. It’s a lifeline.

Because when your soul is weary from years of pretending…
When your body is tired from carrying trauma it never deserved…
When your heart is exhausted from loving people who didn’t love you back…
You don’t just need sleep.
You need Jesus.

And He doesn’t say, “Get it together, and then come to Me.”
He says, “Come as you are. I’ve got you.”

I’m learning now that rest isn’t laziness, it’s warfare.
It’s resisting the lie that my value is in what I do.
It’s saying no to the pressure to prove myself.
It’s laying down the expectations I was never meant to carry and picking up peace instead.

And that peace? It’s not found in perfection.
It’s found in presence.

His presence.

So I’m learning to rest.
To breathe.
To trust that the world won’t fall apart if I stop holding it up.
To believe that I can rest not because everything is finished, but because He already said, “It is finished.”

Rest doesn’t mean the storm stops.
It means I’ve found the One who can calm it.
It means I’m safe in the boat, even when the waves hit hard.

If you’re tired today…
If your soul is aching for a place to land…
Come home to rest. Not just in a place, but in a Person.
His name is Jesus.
And He’s not asking for your performance.
He’s offering you peace.

You don’t have to do more to be loved.
You just have to be willing to stop.
To sit.
To let your heart be held.
To let Him be your rest.