I have been meditating about the concept of rest. Those of us who are type A personality have a hard time resting or making time to rest and slow down. You add to that the American culture of doing more with less—both at home and at work. And on top of that, you add the fact that you need to work harder to make it and get ahead. You now have the perfect recipe to eliminate the concept of rest from your life altogether. How can we slow down when there is so much to do? If our kids are not involved in fifteen activities the whole family may feel like it’s being left behind! Once you’re on the treadmill of life, it’s hard to get off—especially when you intentionally want to get off.
Last weekend, the pastor at church talked about the Sabbath and how it relates to us taking a sabbatical from work. Take time to refresh and do other things different and away from your daily work. I once did a research on sabbaticals and every person that I interviewed that had taken a sabbatical said it was the best thing they had ever done in their lives. Some companies now are starting to require the executives to take sabbaticals so they can come back refreshed and renewed.
Right now in my life I feel God has given me the opportunity to take a sabbatical from my bank job. But I have decided to start my own company so I have invested a lot of this time into the business startup. In a way, I feel that I should be resting. On the other hand, I feel the pressure to produce and get going with the new business venture. So what is the right thing to do? I think there has to be balance and I’m purposed to do both during this time. It may take me longer to get the business going but I will be more rested and energized to grow the business. I am also using this time to invest in volunteering for non-profit organizations, which is one of my passions. If not now, when?
I just got back from one week of vacation and the purpose was to relax and do nothing—no workouts, no work for the whole week… By day three of not working out I was going crazy so I decided to go lift weights. By day four I felt the urge to check my emails so I did. I told my husband I was only reading the e-newsletters so when I got back I didn’t have so many emails to go through. The truth was I wanted to work. But why can’t we have both—work and leisure at the same time? Work and rest integrated into our lives all the time? I think that’s the best way to always feel rested. The same way athletes take time off after working out certain muscle groups, we need to take time off every so often to rest our minds.
So today, I encourage you to make time to rest. Schedule time to slow down. Yes, even us type A personality people can do and should do that. I leave you with these Scriptures that reminds us that God can help us rest.
Hebrews 4:9-10 (NLT)
So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labors, just as God rested after creating the world.
Exodus 23:12 (NLT)
“Work six days, and rest on the seventh. This will give your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It will also allow the people of your household, including your slaves and visitors, to be refreshed.”