“I will rest when…” I’ve said some form of that sentence for years now. Once I get this next project done, then I can rest. Once things settle down, once we get than loan, once I finish this degree. The thing is, there is never a finish line. Life doesn’t happen like that. New demands are put on top of an already filled to-do list. Unexpected distractions enter the equation. The truth is we’re never caught up.
Wouldn’t it be great if you hit send on an email and you got a reply back that stated, “congratulations you have now completed absolutely everything”? Instead, most of us are always on a project. I mean, that’s not a bad thing. We need a purpose, and we are designed to work. But, we are also designed to rest.
Why? Because, we are designed to get tired. This can be a definitive physical tiredness, but not always. Often it is a soul-level tired. Our minds, our emotions, and our spirit are worn out. Somehow we’ve convinced ourselves that rest is that thing that we get to do when the things in life are handled. Work hard, play hard is the mantra. We have created rest to be the reward. But, God doesn’t see it this way. Rest isn’t a reward for hard work, rest is a command from God. Rest is a necessity.
I’ve even found myself not enjoying rest when I take it. My body may be sitting still, but my mind never got the memo. I’m thinking about the things I forgot to do. The conversations I need to have. That thing that is due next week. That project that is still hanging out there. This isn’t healthy, and I’m not just talking about physical health. It’s not healthy spiritually. If’s funny how we spend all of our time looking forward to a break, then when we get one we realize we’ve forgotten how to slow down.
Exhaustion isn’t always a lack of rest, it’s more of a lack of proper rhythm. God didn’t design us to sprint through life and then collapse at the finish line. His plan is for ongoing rest during the whole journey. Rest isn’t the thing we stumble into when everything is finished, it’s something we are supposed to do along the way.
We all need rest! The rest (of the stuff) can wait, because the rest can’t wait.
Have you ever sat in a rocking chair for an extended period of time? Not for thirty seconds, but for long enough that you quit looking at your watch (or the modern day phone)? That old chair doesn’t accomplish much. You’re not getting anything done while sitting in it. Bills aren’t being paid, emails aren’t being answered, the projects aren’t moving forward. All it does is just rock back and forth, back and forth. The crazy thing is many people will sit in one and say “I needed this”. It’s not that something is getting done, it’s that things are slowing down. Not everything valuable can be measured by what got finished.
“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.” – Dallas Willard
Hurry is the greatest enemy. Not culture, not temptations, not the things of this world. No, Willard says, “hurry is the great enemy”. He goes on to say:
“You must ruthlessy eliminate hurry from your life.” – Dallas Willard
What that means to me is that we have to be intentional. For most of us if we aren’t intentional we won’t stop, we won’t slow down. Deadline after deadline. Project after project. All the things that aren’t done just keep piling up. Our job is to walk away from it and spend some time in the rocking chair!
The great thing is, because this is all God’s plan, rest actually leads to productivity. It sounds counterintuitive. It doesn’t make sense on the surface. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I was hung up on a project. Maybe it was something I couldn’t figure out. Maybe it was writer’s block. I just felt stuck. But, instead of banging my head on the desk over and over, I walked away from it, took some time, came back, and suddenly it all just flowed. Rest is essential, rest is beneficial, and rest leads to better productivity.
“Rest time is not waste time. It is the economy to gather fresh strength.” – Charles Spurgeon
Rest is such a tricky subject, because productivity is so glamourized. Go, go, go … this is the way to success. But, once again, we are commanded to rest. We are designed for rest. Not only is it disobedient to not rest, it is causing us to be less effective.
“It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
Psalm 127:2
Did you catch that? God gives to us while we sleep. And, it’s vain for us to rise early and go to bed late. What I gather is that we should allow the work of God in our lives rather than depend on our efforts so much. Sure, it’s a cooperation with Him. We have our role, we have our purpose. But, for most of us, we are likely overworked and under rested.
Maybe it’s time fo take a break. Maybe it’s time to spend a little time in the rocking chair!
We all need rest! The rest (of the stuff) can wait, because the rest can’t wait.