In a culture that prioritizing doing more and going further, are you taking time to rest? When we don’t take advantage of God’s gift of Sabbath and rest we are inviting burn out into our lives.

Cheri Keaggy knows what it’s like to be burned out. Even though she was doing the work that God called her to do, she knew something was stirring in her spirit, telling her she needed rest.

“I came home after a busy fall schedule and it was right around the holidays. I set to read my streams in the desert devotional and I read this thing that just broke me open. It was a poem about a woman who was tired. She painted this picture of a mother and a child. Does a mother deny her child the rest that an infant needs or does she delight when the infant is sleeping in her arms?”

Reading the poem, Cheri broke down because she knew that God also delighted when she rested in Him. The only problem was; she wasn’t making time to rest.

“It was like how I needed that kind of rest and how I needed to know that God would delight in allowing me to rest.”

Cheri knew something in her spirit needed to change before she could embark on her latest writing journey.

“I just need to figure out how to rest and again I broke down in tears around this idea of rest. I didn’t know, but God was showing me I was in a burn out season like I had never experienced before.”

In her time of need, Cheri remembered what Scripture says and quoted it back to God.

“God, you said those who wait on the Lord you will renew their strength. So you have to renew me, you have to refresh me.”

Through her crying out, God helped Cheri find the missing piece to her puzzle of rest.

“Even though I was doing all the right things that He called me to do, I was neglecting Sabbath rest.”


Cheri Keaggy is a veteran CCM artist who has ministered though her music and testimony for over 20 years. She is newly married as of December! Today we’ll be listening to some of the wonderful songs from Cheri’s latest album, . Cheri has two adult children, Cameron and Sarah. Living in Franklin, Tennessee, Cheri enjoys reading, writing, and walking her beloved Shih Tzu, Daisy Doo.

Key Scripture: Jeremiah 15:16

Featured Songs: Fierce – Jesus Culture; No Wonder – River Valley; Thy Will – Hillary Scott

Cheri Keaggy on her divorce

Neglecting Sabbath rest