We all know we need to rest. We hear the word Sabbath and think yeah, I should do that. I’ll add it to my list of to-dos and I’ll get around to it… eventually.

One of my best friends was in the car with me on a Sunday afternoon, the two of us driving down Lakeshore, and as she spoke about Sabbath I heard words leave my mouth that shocked me:

“That’s great for you and I’m glad you’re choosing Sabbath, but I just don’t have time for that.”

Oh, y’all. Lord help me. When did checking boxes and crossing things off a list become so important that obeying God took a backseat? I didn’t know what to do about it and felt too tired to change.

It turns out you can grow up knowing the commandment and that you should follow His lead, but ‘real life’ sweeps in and you’re caught in the current with no exit in sight. I wasn’t rested, wasn’t ready for a new week, and sure didn’t see an end to the raging rapids that I’d jumped into.

But I figured I would try it just one time, just one Sunday following His lead for Sabbath.

To be honest, I didn’t pick Sunday because it’s the Lord’s day. I picked Sunday because it was the easiest option for what my life looked like at the time. It wasn’t an easy option, but it was the easiest day to try.

So I did. One time.

And I’ve done it ever since.

It takes so much work but it truly makes such a difference in my Monday through Saturday. Resting does not come naturally to me; I have to work really hard at it. In all actuality, you could argue that I schedule in time to rest because I choose to Sabbath. In a way, you’d be totally right.

Choosing Sabbath has changed everything. And yeah, I’ve really thought about that sentence and if it’s true.

It is.

Choosing Sabbath has changed everything.

I Sabbath because it realigns my heart with His.

I Sabbath because I need the reminder that He can handle what didn’t get done.

I Sabbath because it is my weekly declaration that He is more important to me than my to-do list.

Every week I intentionally slow down, count the little things, and remember my smallness in light of His greatness. Sabbath refuels me, replenishes me, and reignites the fire. It prepares me and fills me for a new week. On the weeks when the list of all the things is long, when the weekend arrives and I have no time to slow down and rest in His presence, I know I need Sabbath even more.

When you feel like you don’t have time for God, it is in that very space that you need Him all the more.

You might not think you need Sabbath. I sure didn’t. There was no time in my schedule to “add in” rest. But the truth is, Sabbath was not made for us – we are made for it. God did not command us to perform or achieve but He did command us to rest, to walk in the unforced rhythms of grace.

I’m not sure I could ever go back, and I fully, one hundred percent, hands down believe you would say the same thing. Try it, I dare you. If you’re reading these words and thinking anything along the lines of, “That is just so nice for you. Kudos, girl. But you don’t know my to-do list, my schedule, or all the things that depend on me. I’d love to Sabbath, but I don’t have time for it.”

You do. You do have time and you don’t have any excuse. None. Sabbath doesn’t have to be for 24 hours or on Sunday or full of sitting still and doing nothing. Sabbath can look one hundred different ways. But if I hear one more friend look in my eyes on a Sunday and say, “I love that you have time to rest today but I can’t. It’s great that you Sabbath, but I don’t have time.”? Well I might near explode because I thought I never had time for this, either.

You make time. You make it happen. Over and over and each week again, you choose it. And then you find that you can’t imagine how you managed life without Sabbath, because every week as you choose to trust God’s got your to-do list under control, you find that He actually does have it under control. Watch Him multiply your hours. Oh, I dare you.

Related: 5 Ways to Choose Sabbath