2. Get Better at Resting and Replenishing
I figured out resting is a way of saying, “God, I am trusting you with the results.”
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1 NIV 84
Getting rest, trusting God with results, and taking a Sabbath is not an indulgence—it’s a command.
I think it was Rick Warren who said, “Depart Daily, Withdraw Weekly, and Abandon Annually.” I will add: “Miss a couple of days monthly.”
Mine does not sound as slick as Rick’s suggestions, but I hope you get the point. Take time regularly to rest and replenish.
A real day of rest every week is crucial. It’s in God’s top 10 list. Sabbath involves rest and worship of God. A “rest day” is not the day to work at home (paying all the bills, making home repairs, and doing all the laundry) instead of work at the office.
In the Bible, Sabbath rest means to cease regularly from and to enjoy the results of your work. God worked six days and rested on the seventh. Although Sabbath rest receives a much smaller amount of time than work, it is an important counterbalance so your work can be good and fulfilling.
God liberated his people when they were slaves in Egypt, and in Deuteronomy 5:12-15, God ties the Sabbath to freedom from slavery. Anyone who overworks is really a slave. A person who cannot rest from work is a slave—to a need for success or to a materialistic culture. Sabbath rest is about external rest of the body and inner rest of the soul.
My wife and I love church and ministry. We can talk about it all day long, at dinner, and on vacation because we love it. But we know how to turn it off. Pastors who say, “We haven’t taken a vacation for a couple of years” are not noble—they are being foolish.
I know how to work hard, work on long projects, and how to work long days. I also know how to take a break and rest. Establishing healthy margins in your life is important. Become a “black belt” in resting and replenishing. Learn to get a day away, a study break, or an extra week to replenish. Don’t apologize for taking time off. Be disciplined about giving yourself time to rest and replenish.
So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:6-7 NLT
