How to Find Rest in a Busy Season
Jun 08, 2026
How to Find Rest in a Busy Season
If you're a pastor, ministry leader, entrepreneur, or high-capacity leader, you've probably noticed something: Busy seasons don't ask for permission. They just show up.
A big ministry initiative.
- A building campaign.
- A new staff member.
- A family crisis.
- A launch.
- A move.
- A deadline.
And before you know it, you're running hard for weeks or months at a time.
The question isn't whether you'll have busy seasons. The question is: How do you find rest in the middle of one?
The Myth of Balance
For years I thought the goal was balance. Then I realized balance doesn't really exist. Some seasons require more energy than others. Some seasons require more sacrifice. Some seasons require a sprint.
Bruce Miller, in his excellent book Your Life in Rhythm, argues that the goal isn't balance. The goal is rhythm. Healthy people learn to live according to God-designed rhythms of engagement and recovery, work and rest, effort and renewal.
Think about creation itself: Day and night; Work and Sabbath; Planting and harvest; Breathing in and breathing out.
Life was designed around rhythm. And so were you.
Work Hard
Let's start with something that often gets missed in conversations about rest: Work is not the enemy.
God created work before sin entered the world.
Paul writes: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." (Colossians 3:23)
I believe in working hard. I expect a lot from myself and I like getting things done. There is nothing wrong with pushing. There is nothing wrong with effort. There is nothing wrong with ambition directed toward the Kingdom of God. The problem is not working hard. The problem is refusing to stop.
The Secret of Sabbath
One of the most important leadership lessons I've learned is this: Healthy leaders don't just know how to turn it on. They know how to turn it off.
Sabbath is God's reminder that the world keeps spinning without us. For one day, we stop producing. We stop proving. We stop carrying. We stop fixing. We rest. Not because everything is finished. But because God is still God.
Mark Buchanan writes that Sabbath is both a day and an attitude. It's learning to receive God's rest rather than constantly living under the pressure of our own effort. He argues that without rest, we actually miss parts of God that can only be known through stillness.
That's a challenging thought for leaders. Because many of us secretly believe that everything depends on us. Sabbath reminds us that it doesn't.
What I'm Doing Right Now
As I write this, it's late at night and I've just come off a full ministry weekend.
- Church services
- Graduation parties
- Growth Group
- Personal financial projects
- Coaching work
It's been full.
Tomorrow is my day off and I've made a decision: I'm pushing hard tonight so I can stop tomorrow. Not halfway stop. Actually stop. My phone is going in a drawer. No email, no social media, no checking in, no "just one quick thing."
Tomorrow belongs to God, my wife, my soul, and the people I love. There's still more work I could do. There always is. But the work will be there when I come back. It always is.
How to Find Rest in a Busy Season:
1. Finish What Absolutely Must Be Finished
One reason leaders struggle to rest is because everything feels unfinished.
Before your day off, ask: What absolutely must be done?
Not what could be done. Not what should be done. What truly must be done?
Make a short list, then attack it.
2. Give Yourself a Deadline
Ever notice how productive you become before vacation? You clear emails, finish projects, return calls, tie up loose ends.
Why? Because there's a hard stop coming.
Treat your day off the same way. Create a finish line. Work expands to fill the space available. A deadline creates freedom.
3. Treat Your Day Off Like a Mini Vacation
This one could be a game-changer for all of us. Most of us protect vacations, but we don't protect days off.
What if you planned your weekly Sabbath the same way you plan a trip? What are you looking forward to? What will replenish you? Who do you want to spend time with? What book do you want to read? What activity fills your tank?
Don't just stop working. Start restoring.
4. Remove the Leash
For many leaders, technology is the leash. The phone buzzes. The email arrives. The text comes through. And suddenly you're back at work.
If you really need rest, create some distance. Put the phone away. Log out. Close the laptop. The world survived before you checked your notifications every seven minutes.
It'll survive tomorrow too.
5. Get Help From Your People
Rest rarely happens in isolation. Talk to your spouse, ell your team, tell your assistant. tell your boss, tell a friend. Create accountability around your rest.
Tonight I asked my wife to help me protect tomorrow. She immediately supported it. Most people who love you already know you need more rest than you're taking. They'll probably be thrilled you're finally doing something about it.
Build Rest Into Every Level of Life
I've found that healthy leaders establish rhythms at multiple levels.
Daily:
- Slow mornings.
- Prayer.
- Scripture.
- A meaningful dinner.
- A walk.
- Moments to reconnect with God and people.
Weekly:
- A genuine Sabbath.
- A day when work stops.
Monthly
- An overnight getaway.
- A retreat day.
- Extended time to reset.
Annually
- A real vacation.
- Not a working vacation.
- Not a ministry conference disguised as a vacation.
- An actual break.
Why This Matters
You don't rest because you're weak. You rest because you're human. God designed you that way. The people you lead deserve a healthy leader. Your family deserves a present leader. Your church deserves a sustainable leader. And your own soul deserves room to breathe.
One of the greatest acts of faith a leader can perform is to close the laptop, put away the phone, and trust God with what remains unfinished.
The work will still be there tomorrow.
But hopefully, after a little rest, you'll be stronger when you return.
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