There’s nothing quite like resting in the presence of God. When our physical bodies sleep, they rest in darkness, but our spiritual bodies find true rest in God’s light. Have you ever gotten plenty of sleep yet woken up exhausted? Other times, you’ll get too little sleep yet feel pretty great the next morning. Why is that? Have you ever wondered?

I believe our souls need rest as much as our bodies, probably even more. When we aren’t giving our souls the rest they need, it simply doesn’t matter how much sleep we get.

God wants His followers to have peaceful sleep as well as deep, restfulness of the soul. So how do we do that? How does one find rest for his or her soul?

Fast from social media often. Shut everything off.

Consecrate. Go inward away from others, away from their judgment and opinions, away from negativity. Find a healthy balance between alone time and time with others.

Spend time with people that truly care about you and want to see you happy.

Do the things you love. I recently stayed up hours later than normal because I fell into the flow state in my writing. I was certain I was going to be exhausted the next day at work, but I wasn’t. I actually woke up energized.

Pray. It sounds so simple, but there’s nothing that gives rest to the soul like communication with someone who loves you more than you can fathom. We aren’t designed to keep things bottled up inside. Tell God how you feel and what you’re going through.

Find your quiet place. Find a place and a time that’s quiet, a special place and time set aside for you and God.

Seek out the presence of innocence—animals, children, and the elderly. Serve them, love on them.

Express gratitude. I always like to start my prayers off with gratitude. I use the acronym P-R-A-Y. Praise. Repent. Ask. Yield.

Spend time in nature. This world is filled with so much beauty. It’s always uplifting to see beautiful flowers, sunsets; truth be told, even gray skies and rain are beautiful.

In this chaotic world, it’s important we remember to pursue peace; make peace a priority. Seek the face of God on a daily basis. It’s in His presence we can know peace, and in the midst of God’s light, we find true rest.