First, Breathe…
Why Release Rest Remain Matters
I don’t know what it took for you to carve out this moment. Maybe sitting with this book open on your lap meant leaving the full inbox that demands your attention, taking a much-needed break from your children, or ignoring the endless list of things you didn’t quite check off today. Maybe you had to push past the pull of dis- traction, fight through the weight of worry, or resist the exhaustion that comes from feeling like you’re always running behind. Whatever sacrifice or struggle brought you here, I want to acknowledge it,because I know what it’s like to carry all the things.
Release Rest Remain Begins With Slowing Down
Before we begin, let’s pause and take a deep breath.
Inhale for four seconds . . .
Hold for four seconds . . .
Exhale for four seconds . . .
Hold for four seconds . . .
Let’s do it again.
Inhale . . .
Hold . . .
Exhale . . .
Hold . . .
If you need to, repeat this as many times as it takes for your shoulders to relax, for the tension in your jaw to ease, for your heart rate to slow just a little. You made it here.
And my encouragement to you is this: Be fully here.
This devotional isn’t something to rush through, another task to check off before moving on to the next thing. You are invited to slow down and be with Jesus, who doesn’t demand more of you but in- stead asks you to lay things down.
Learning to Release Rest Remain in God’s Presence
A few years ago, I found myself trapped in a cycle of anxious striving. I was trying to check every box, meet every expectation, and hold everything together. The doing, proving, and striving left me exhausted, constantly pursuing rest but never quite arriving. I didn’t realize how much I was carrying until I finally stepped away to spend time in stillness with my Abba.
In the quiet, I felt the Lord pressing something onto my heart. A simple invitation: Rest and remain in My presence and allow Me to do the rest.
Release Rest Remain Through Surrender
At first, His call was just a whisper in my spirit, a gentle nudge. But when I felt anxiety fill my heart, I found myself coming back to it—rest and remain. With time, the invitation became clearer. Before I could truly rest, I had to release. I had to let go of the things that were never mine to carry in the first place. The need for control. The pressure to be enough. The fears that kept me from trusting God completely.
When I arrived at that place of surrender, rest became possible. A rest rooted not in the absence of struggle but in the presence of a God who holds everything together. A rest that isn’t passive but deeply reliant on who He says He is.
How to Release Rest Remain Every Day
I would release, find rest, then try to pick up things I had already laid down at the feet of Jesus. I learned to release, assume the posture of rest, and remain there. And as I remained, I began to see that remaining was an active choice to trust God, even when I felt pulled to take it all back. And then I’d do it all over again.
Release, rest, remain…repeat.
Release Rest Remain as a Daily Rhythm
This became my rhythm. And over time, I found myself sharing it, not just as encouragement but as a lifeline. I’ve whispered these words to weary friends, to anxious hearts, and to myself in the mid- dle of the night: Release, rest, remain.
Release Rest Remain by Abiding in Christ
And that’s why we’re here: to learn how to live this out. As we step into this thirty-day journey, we’ll go back to where God first revealed this rhythm to me: John 15, which recounts Jesus’s last moments with His disciples.
On that holy night, Jesus felt the weight of what was coming. He had washed the disciples’ feet, broken bread with them, and spoken of His coming departure. Now, late in the evening and just after the Passover meal, they walked through the darkened streets toward the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus spoke of vines and branches, of abiding love and lasting fruit. Words that weren’t about doing but about being—about dwelling close to Him when everything else would tell them to run. “Abide in Me,” He said. “Rest in My love. Remain in Me.”
In this devotional, you’ll walk the same path the disciples did, using the gift of time to study Jesus’s words. You’ll spend ten days in each section—Release, Rest, and Remain—but you’ll find that these aren’t rigid categories. They don’t exist in isolation; they move together in harmony, much like the notes of a melody. You might release something today, but tomorrow you’ll find yourself needing to lay it down again. You may arrive at rest, only to realize that true rest requires trust. A trust that keeps pulling you back to His presence when you’re tempted to pick up burdens again. And when you remain, you will see just how often you are tempted to wander and how much intentionality it takes to stay rooted in Him.
Think of it like a song.
A melody isn’t just one note played over and over—it’s a sequence of sounds, movements, and harmonies that create something beautiful. In the same way, release, rest, and remain isn’t a destination— it’s a rhythm we follow.
Release Rest Remain Through Presence Not Perfection
So as we begin this journey together, I want to remind you: This is not about perfection. It’s about presence.
You don’t have to get it all right. You don’t have to force anything to happen. You are simply invited to show up, open your heart, and let God lead you in this rhythm, one breath, one release, one moment of rest at a time. And as you do, remain with Him, letting His presence be the place you return to again and again.
Excerpted from Release, Rest, Remain by Yvette Henry. Copyright © 2026 by Yvette Henry. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Release, Rest, Remain: A 30-Day Devotional to Embrace Abiding Over Striving
By Yvette Henry
