Rest | 10 Bible Promises for Mamas
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
I’ve never felt more tired, weary and deeply in need of rest than in this calling of motherhood. While my cup is overflowing with inexpressible joy in the gift it is to be a mama, motherhood has also left my cup empty, poured out and utterly depleted in many seasons. Whether it’s the sheer exhaustion of the sleepless newborn nights, the weariness of working through those same big emotions with our toddlers day after day, the tiredness of chasing after a child and teaching, re-teaching, and teaching boundaries again and again, or the burden of all the choices and decisions that come with being a mama. In all this weariness and exhaustion, our hearts are calling out for true rest.
True rest is not found in how many hours of sleep or moments of quiet we have throughout our days, but true rest is found in Christ, as His presence quiets our souls and fills us with peace, ease and refreshment in Him. God has designed our bodies with a need for physical rest that reminds us of our humanity and need for a Savior, and He delights in blessing us with that rest. However, the rest that our souls are so deeply longing for in these tired, exhausting days of motherhood is more than a full night of sleep or an hour to ourselves throughout the day. Our souls need for true rest that is found in Christ alone and when our hearts are weary, they are calling out for the presence of our Savior.
Mama, in whatever season this finds you in, God sees that heavy burden you are carrying, and His heart is for you to experience true rest that is found in Him. This rest is an invitation and a promise. His word declares that He “will give you rest.” As Jesus paints the picture of Himself, as our gentle and lowly Savior, delighting to take on this yoke for us, having already bore the cross for us, will you receive this invitation? His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
As we respond to this invitation, may we embrace this promise by remembering that our souls were created with a need for rest, our true rest is found in Christ alone and we have the promise of eternal rest to come.
1. God created our souls with a need for rest.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
Psalm 23:1-2
God is our shepherd, and He delights in guiding, comforting and protecting His flock to give us rest for our souls. When God created the world, and every human heart, He created us with a need for rest – physical, mental, and emotional rest. As the Creator, God could have excluded rest from a part of how our minds, souls and bodies function, but in His goodness and grace, He has given us the opportunity to come to Him, to fall into His arms of comfort and protection, and find rest for our souls in Him. As mamas, our physical rest reminds us that we are weak and humble sheep, so deeply in need for this rest in our Shepherd and Savior.
As I read Psalm 23, I believe that the picture the psalmist paints is a beautiful picture of God’s heart as our Shepherd. God is the green pasture, abundant and safe, a place we can confidently rest our heads. And God is the still water, our calm and protection through every storm, a spring of living water that only He can give, sustaining and refreshing our souls. Our souls were created with a need for both physical and spiritual rest, and that rest is found in Christ.
2. Our true rest is found in Christ alone.
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2
It’s in Christ alone that we find true rest for our souls. The enemy seeks to offer us many counterfeit options for rest that may feel like they are giving us breath for a moment or a break from the hard parts of our days, but ultimately, they are distracting us and drawing us away from God, the only one who offers us true rest for our souls.
When we are tired and weary from the weight we carry as mamas, our lives begin to feel shaken. But, God’s word declares that when He is our rock, our fortress, and our salvation, we will not be shaken. May that tired, weary, shaken feeling become a reminder of the invitation that Christ offers for us to come and to stand upon His firm foundation. When the rains fall, the floods come and the winds of motherhood blow, let us build our house upon the rock of Christ, in that house is the only place where we will find true, unshakable rest for the soul (Matthew 7:24-25).
3. We have the promise of eternal rest to come.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
John 14:1-2
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
Mama, let me tell you the best news of all, as believers we have a place in heaven where the promise of rest will come in full for all of eternity. When we put our faith in Jesus, believing that we are sinners desperately in need of a Savior, we have a room in the Father’s house where there will be no more tiredness, no more weariness and no more exhaustion…only rest for the soul. This is the hope we look to, knowing that this is God’s promise to us. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the one who declares, “I will give you rest,” and in Him is the true rest our souls are seeking now and for the promise of rest for eternity to come.
In whatever hard stage or trying season of motherhood this finds you in, I believe that our tired and weary hearts are calling out for the presence of our Savior. Our true rest is found in Christ, as His presence quiets our souls and fills us with peace, ease and refreshment in Him.
So mama, let me ask you, how is God inviting you to experience true rest in Him, asking you to lie down in green pastures and leading you beside still waters in the weariness and exhaustion of this life?
Mama, this is God’s invitation to you… true rest found in the heart of our Savior. When the rains fall, the floods come and the winds of motherhood blow, let us seek the Savior and build our house upon the rock of Christ, in that house is the only place where we will find true, unshakable rest for the soul. May we be the mamas who choose to take hold.
As a way to celebrate these 10 Bible Promises for Mamas, I have collaborated with my dear friend, Annalisa Sawtell, who is an incredible artist with an inspiring love for Jesus and a heart for seeking beauty where truth and grace collide. Each week, she will be releasing a floral art print that captures the heart of each promise. Our hope is that mamas would download these weekly prints as a way to reflect on the weekly promise and embrace the scripture that reminds us of each truth.
Rest | Lavender
Follow along with Annalisa as she shares more beautiful artwork and inspiring words on Instagram and at annalisavsawtell.com.
Join us for this ten week series as we unpack each one of these 10 Bible Promises for Mamas! If you missed the introduction to the series, click here to read. God has promised us peace, joy, presence, strength, guidance, deliverance, rest, purpose, mercy and hope in all things. I pray that His word is our stronghold and His promise is our hope. I’m praying for you, mama!
