Sometimes it is more important to rest than it is to work

I have a pretty long to-do list.  I have built in various habits in my days so that some of my to-do list seems to take care of itself.  But there are always more things to do in a week than I will be able to do and that doesn't include many things that I am currently choosing to neglect. I can get into a frenzy and work until I’m exhausted (and usually sick) and then I lose all productivity.  My frenzy won’t look like yours and for the most part I realize that my level of productivity is much less than that of most people.  I cannot accomplish in a day all that many people do.  But I have learned one thing that’s true. 

Sometimes it’s more important to rest than it is to work.

That’s pretty counter-cultural.  Sometimes it seems anti-survival.  And maybe it even seems selfish.

But it’s not.  Certainly society and even the church has succumbed to the production mentality.  Sometime it’s the focus on quantity rather than on quality.  As a whole we've generally lost sight of the importance of rest.  God thought it was so important that he mentioned it about himself after creating the world.  You know, God – the infinite one, with unending resources of power and strength – He rested.  So why should we think that we don’t need rest.

Another indication that God thinks rest is pretty important in indicated by the fact that he includes a Sabbath rest in the ten commandments. So I guess God considers it pretty important to rest.  Now, you can also find lots of scriptures that warn against laziness and too much sleep, so there is certainly a balance.  But the way our lives run sometimes, we put too much pressure on ourselves to perform and to do all the good things around us and we get into a busy, busy lifestyle.  

Sometimes when there is so much to do, the very best thing you can possibly do is to rest.  As of late, I have taken to trying to take a 5 minute Sabbath at some point in my day.  I go to my room and thank God for the strength he has given me to do what has been done and I put it all in His hands again – because without Him I could do nothing.  Lots of the time, the 5 minute time is up and I have not even cleared away all my cares to focus on what I came for…so I spend a bit longer.  Trying to train my mind and my heart and my body that it is not about me and I can do nothing unless the Lord gives me strength and I want to thank Him for the opportunities and abilities I have today to do what I’m doing.  It won’t be this way forever.  So I stop and I rest.

Psalm 127:2

It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late

To eat the break of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

God is the one who takes care of us.  Yes, He is training us in faithfulness and He wants us to be fruitful.  But remember to be fruitful, we must abide, remain, and stay attached to the Vine.  Just as there are cycles of day and night, growing and resting, we must also observe these to be the most fruitful.  In mothering, rest is needful in order to be patient and kind and to instruct the little ones.  In the teen years, the same remains.  If I have not rested generally, then when my teen needs a late night talk, I am too exhausted to listen. 

So sometimes our best work is the discipline of rest.