PREPARATION
You could set up the room like a sleepover, with pillows, teddies, hot chocolate and low lighting, although this is not essential. Find a big piece of paper, whiteboard or roll of lining paper, and write ‘Rest’ on it in big letters. On smaller pieces of paper or card, write the following phrases: watching TV, playing online games, being with friends, doing school work, playing music, eating great food, going for a walk, being on your own, doing something creative, being with family and playing sport. Have some blank paper and pens on hand to add further words during the session. You’ll need some Bibles and possibly some background music.
ICE BREAKER
5 mins
Have a light-hearted discussion about how well you all sleep. Tell them about your bedtime routine. Ask the young people what things they need to go to sleep at night. Lights on or off? Cup of cocoa? Do they have a teddy bear? Do they read or listen to music? What prevents them sleeping well at night?
EXPLAIN
5 mins
Getting a good night’s sleep is one part of rest; physical rest for our bodies. But there are other types of rest, for example emotional rest and spiritual rest. The word ‘rest’ comes from the bigger words ‘restore’ and ‘restoration’. We need good rest in order to be restored to a healthy condition.
When our bodies are tired and we are running low on physical energy, it is like a petrol tank getting close to empty. We sleep or have something to eat to restore our physical energy. But we can also run low on emotional and spiritual energy. To help top up our tanks of emotional energy, the answer isn’t always to have a sleep or a chocolate bar, but to do something we find restorative and relaxing. Think about what really restores your soul. What fills up your energy tanks rather than drain you?
ACTIVITY
15 mins
Get out the slips of paper with the words on. Ask the young people to talk about which activities they find restorative and which they find draining. Note how you each have different character types. Some people will be energised by an activity that other people find draining.
Invite the young people to add other things they find energising and restoring, then talk about whether the young people prioritise making time to do the things that restore and energise them. Give an example of something you try to prioritise in order to rest and energise yourself. You can be honest about reasons why this doesn’t always happen.
You might also talk about things that we do in times of rest that are actually not all that restorative. For example, watching TV is fine to zone out for an hour or so, but watching TV for two days straight might not be helpful in restoring your energy and feeding your soul! Talk about what good choices might look like when it comes to choosing rest activities.
BIBLE DISCUSSION
10 mins
Get people to look up the following passages: Genesis 2:1–3, Exodus 23:10–2, Mark 6:30–32 and Luke 10:38–42. Read each one through, and as you do so invite the young people to talk about God’s attitude regarding rest. Write these thoughts down on your large piece of paper around the word ‘Rest’.
KEY POINT
God cares about your rest. He wants it for his people and for his creation. He knows that good and proper rest is vital for us, and that sometimes work can distract us from leading healthy lives.
EXPLAIN
5 mins
We have talked about physical and emotional rest, but there is also a spiritual rest. This is perhaps the most important kind of rest. God created humans to be at perfect peace and rest with him. But the Genesis story shows that, as a result of our sinfulness, humans began to strive and struggle, living out of peace with God and having to work hard to provide for ourselves (Genesis 3:17–19).
God’s will for his people is to be at peace with him, which the Bible calls ‘entering into his rest’ (Hebrews 4:9–11). Spiritual rest means receiving God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness. It means we no longer need to strive to ‘be someone’ or to earn God’s friendship. We can live in peace knowing that God loves us unconditionally and has accepted us by his grace though what Jesus did on the cross.
Jesus said: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matthew 11:28–29).
KEY POINT
We are truly at rest when we know who we are in Christ. This is true peace; a place where we can just ‘be’ without striving.
DISCUSS
10 mins
What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘striving’? You could write this on your big piece of paper and make notes from the conversation. How is ‘striving’ different from just working hard? Where do you strive in life? Do you struggle and stress to get people’s acceptance, to do well at school, to please parents or to succeed at a hobby?
You might want to share these lyrics from John Whittier’s poem, which became the hymn ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’:
Drop thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of thy peace.
Talk about what this means to each of you, and how you could make space in your life to receive God’s peace.
REFLECTION
5 mins
Have a time of quiet. Invite the young people to talk to God about the things that tempt them to strive and stress. Then encourage them to receive God’s peace, forgiveness and acceptance. You could have quiet background music (ideally instrumental) playing, or you could play Tim Hughes’ ‘The beauty of your peace’. Or, if you think your group can handle it, you could just enjoy the silence.
