Unlearning Exhaustion: The Transformative Power of Rest

“Rest is a lifelong and meticulous love practice.” – Tricia Hersey

When you ask the question, how are you? How often is the response, I’m EXHAUSTED! The World Health Organization suggests that could be an indicator of burnout. Gallup identifies burnout as “one of the most pressing issues facing the global workforce” that if left unchecked “hampers our ability to have a great life.” Since Jesus came that we might have life abundantly, this crisis of exhaustion runs counter to the ideals espoused in John 10:10. How might distinctly Christian marketplace leaders begin to address this crisis?

Unlearning Our Identities

In “Rest, Sabbath, and Play: A Rule of Life for Marketplace Leaders” I shared an excerpt of my rule of life. One of those pillars is rest. My focus was on resting in God, acknowledging that we are not self-reliant and that we are placed and held in the positions we find ourselves. Here I will explore a different angle—the rhythm of work and rest. Rest as a boundary for replenishment and recovery. Rest for renewal so we can be light in our context, co-creators of a more loving world, and pavers of a new pathway of leadership in the marketplace.

Too often, we wear our exhaustion like badges of honor, using them to inflate our egos and remind others of our importance. As I’ve cultivated my love practice—a deliberate organization of my life around love—I’ve become increasingly aware of self-deception and my decades of indoctrination into a culture that insists my value and worth are tied to my achievements, productivity, possessions, and the companies that employ me. Our faith tells us that is not true. My love practice has been a pathway to my unlearning. Dr. Cindy S. Lee describes this process as “unforming,” a de-westernized perspective that shifts our focus away from productivity and work. It was a harsh realization to confront the truth that my job title is not my identity. I am so much more than what I do, and so are you. We are human beings, not human doings.

Too often, we wear our exhaustion like badges of honor, using them to inflate our egos and remind others of our importance.

I have had many teachers along the journey, one of them is fondly known as the Nap Bishop, Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and author of “Rest is Resistance.” As we navigate this season of rampant burnout, let us explore the four pillars of the Rest is Resistance framework: rest, resist, dream, and imagine, and consider their significance for distinctly Christian marketplace leaders.

Rest

Hersey’s manifesto begins with an urgent call to rest accompanied by a sharp critique of “the beast of capitalism,” naming the historical roots in dehumanization driven by an insatiable demand for productivity, much like Pharaoh’s relentless push for production. This insatiable demand is at the root of the culture we have all been indoctrinated into, influencing us whether we realize it or not. The desire to be successful within the culture compels us to resist rest. As a colleague succinctly put it, “Capitalism has done its job so well that we glorify work over rest.”

Hersey identifies the contemporary manifestation of internalized capitalism, which is entangled with the “shackles of grind culture.” This is also known as hustle culture, or “the glorification of working very long hours in hope of reaching one’s professional goals while having a disregard for their health, and relationships with loved ones.” This grind culture diminishes our regard for ourselves and each other. Hersey reminds us that this is not normal. She underscores the necessity of rest, stating, “Rest pushes back and disrupts a system that views human bodies as tools for production and labor. It is a counter-narrative. We know that we are not machines. We are divine.”

While capitalism often faces harsh criticism and is depicted as inherently evil, scriptures like Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27 affirm the marketplace and work as integral parts of society. My argument is that the problem lies not in capitalism itself, but in underlying values and norms. Opting out does not foster repair or flourishing; instead, cultivating new ways of being and transforming leadership does.

My argument is that the problem lies not in capitalism itself, but in underlying values and norms.

Identifying these historical cultural norms of our context begins with naming the reality. In After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, Willie James Jennings offers insight from his journey in academia, which has implications for the marketplace. In an endeavor to cultivate a way of being that resists Western ideals of greed and hyperproduction, Jennings suggests interrogating the “distorted formation” of the marketplace that is rooted in hegemony or dominance, which “keeps us captured in the formation energies of white self-sufficient masculinity.” In naming and examining the distorted formation of the academy, Jennings provides a change model that begins with deep reflection on the distorted formation of the marketplace since the rise of capitalism in the 16th Century. To evoke “such unnatural self-reflection; and to raise people’s consciousness to previously hidden dimensions of everyday situations,” Jennings offers a pathway toward meaningful, lasting course correction and the possibility of change emerges. This awareness invites us into higher consciousness, awakening us to the counter-kingdom cultural norms within the contexts we have the privilege to influence.

Jesus demonstrates this rhythm of work and rest in Mark 6. The apostles have returned from their ministry tour, a journey of teaching, healing, anointing, and casting out demons. Jesus extends this invitation to them, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” Even as the people were demanding their attention, Jesus acknowledged the need for rest and replenishment.

It is in the recognition of this incessant pursuit to produce that we can begin to welcome rest and relinquish the guilt of feeling unproductive and misjudging it as lazy. Rest offers a boundary to work, not just as a guard of our time to prevent our exhaustion, but also our humanity. Hersey states, “I am only able to have a life-giving rest practice because I have boundaries that center my divinity. I don’t attach my worth to my accomplishments, to-do list, or career.”

This brings us to the pillar, resist.

Rest offers a boundary to work, not just as a guard of our time to prevent our exhaustion, but also our humanity.

Resist

Resistance looks like using one’s agency to push back against our indoctrination that exalts grind culture by consciously choosing to rest. As Hersey says, “We are resting regardless. We are not asking for permission.”

Scriptures offer us many examples of Jesus regularly slipping away to rest and pray, Mark 1:35-37 emphasizes he did so before daybreak, even as the disciples and everyone else were looking for him and his mission was set before him. As a joyful disruptor, resistance for me also means setting boundaries and practicing good stewardship by honoring our bodies with rest, such as taking a nap or observing the Sabbath. For me, the Sabbath is about surrender and resting in God, trusting and inviting God to use the day in whatever way God chooses. Resistance also means noticing when the feeling of exhaustion starts to creep in and responding by caring for myself. It looks like creating space on my calendar to breathe and transition between meetings and ask for what I need. Resistance is practiced by saying no. This can be difficult for people-pleasers, but when constantly satisfying others’ requests becomes the norm, resentment, and exhaustion are waiting to devour us. Always saying yes, packing the schedule without any space, and living a marginless life leave us without room to dream and imagine, the final two pillars in Hersey’s framework.

Dream

Hersey issues this demand, “Our dream space has been stolen and we want it back!” Resting gives us space to reclaim our dream space.

Consider the role of dreams in scripture: Joseph’s dream about famine and his skill in interpretation, Daniel and the prophets through whom God revealed Godself in visions and spoke to them in dreams (Numbers 12:6). Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, was instructed in a dream by an angel of the Lord to “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt” (Matthew 2:13).

Dreams are a significant source of information, even in modern times, for understanding what God wants us to do. I am reminded of Mahalia Jackson stirring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by shouting from the crowd at the March on Washington, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” Dreams are powerful invitations from God that exhaustion threatens. As a spiritual director who keeps a dream log, I view dreams as a means of divine communication. Those transitional moments between sleep and wakefulness, when my defenses are down, provide valuable insights into subconscious issues that need my attention. When I am resting, I have the space to invite the Spirit to help me discern God’s activity in my life.

Imagine

This leads us to the final pillar, to imagine. Hersey affirms.“Creating a Sabbath is an opportunity for intense imagination work in collaboration with Spirit.”Although these sacred moments can be overshadowed by busyness, they are nurtured by the space rest offers. “Rest disrupts and makes space for invention, imagination, and restoration,” says Hersey. Imagination is a tool of our greatest liberation. Dr. Cindy S. Lee suggests cultivating a “practice of imagination—a new way of seeing—to create a new way of being and experiencing. Imagination helps us see beyond our current reality.” Carl McColman, contemplative writer and spiritual director adds, “In the imagination-that dimension of our hearts/minds where divine thought and divine generativity weave together—we can access the infinite possibilities of the mind of God and visualize how those possibilities might manifest in creative ways in our lives.”

Imagination ignites creativity that activates practical action and invites us to re-imagine our contexts bringing curiosity to our complex challenges. Hersey’s provocative questions inspire self-reflection and activate our redemptive imagination: “I wonder about what our bodies can do in this dimension in this time from a rested and imaginative space. What could we heal? What could we figure out? What revelations are we missing out on because we are navigating our lives from a machine-like pace?”

Imagination ignites creativity that activates practical action and invites us to re-imagine our contexts bringing curiosity to our complex challenges.

The mystics from across centuries from Teresa of Avila to Howard Thurman have been our spiritual guides for exploring our imagination. McColman suggests cultivating it takes practice too, the repetition needed to build the muscle that is essential to living. He asserts, “The imagination is like the heartbeat: it’s muscular, powerful, and sustains life.” On the contrary, exhaustion drains life.

I Rest Because I Love

Rest, my meticulous practice of love, has given me the space needed to imagine, dream, and discern God’s direction for my life and the courage to pursue it. Rest has afforded me the space to examine my context and imagine the possibility. You wouldn’t be reading this article without it.

Rest is an embodied spiritual practice and a boundary to work that enables us to be good stewards of ourselves. I have become more mindful, gracious, and tender with my limitations, no longer endeavoring to live a marginless life, fully aware that flourishing is cultivated in the spaciousness that rest provides. I see love and rest inextricably linked, they are a powerful both/and that invites us to be more human. I rest because I love.

From the Old Testament prophets to Paul’s epistles, scripture invites us to experience our bodies, souls, and minds at rest, not exhaustion. As you grapple with your unlearning and unforming, may you receive Hersey’s words as a blessing: “I wish you rest today. I wish you a deep knowing that exhaustion is not a normal way of living. You are enough. You can rest.”