Rest is a Discipline

I am learning something about rest. It is a discipline which has to be learned because it does not come easily or naturally to most of us.


Let me tell you what I mean. I am one month into a 3 month summer sabbatical. The purpose of this time off after 22 years in my present ministry position and some significant challenges in the past year in particular was to have opportunity to rest and be renewed for the next season in my life. I deeply value this opportunity and want to make the most of it but its not easy for me. I am a people person. My Birkman Personality Profile says that I am good with people and love being around them. That’s a very good thing for someone in my line of work. However, it also says that in order to continue to function well around people, I need significant times away from people. I need rest.

Four weeks is about the longest period of time I have ever been away from my job. What is happening to me at this point is that I am feeling like it is almost time to go back to work. I have worked in my garden and it is at the point where it takes very little to keep it maintained. I have gone on a couple of motorbike rides with my buddies which make me feel like I had some fun times away. My wife and I have spent a few weekends in our travel trailer at beautiful Nanoose Bay where the ocean at high tide is only about 40 meters from our door and the breezes are salty and refreshing. My farmer tan makes it look like summer has been good to me. I am starting to feel somewhat rested and anxious to re-engage. However, I still have two more months off. Do I really need this much time or could I go back to work sooner?

It is possible that I have entered a danger zone and need to be diligent to pursue the rest opportunity I have been given. This is really where the discipline part of all of this comes into play. My situation can be compared to a couple which has experienced marital difficulties and after seeing a counselor once or twice, feel like something good has happened and now think they don’t need to go back anymore. The reality is that the immediate pressure has been lifted but they still have a long way to go and a lot to put into practice before the marriage can be strong and enduring. The immediate pressure for rest in me has been lifted but to truly return to my work with strength will require more time and processing.

I am noticing some things about myself. One is that my energy level is still not back to what I believe it should be. Yes, I am getting older. I will be 59 this fall but it seems to take less to wear me out than it did even just a few years ago. One of the ways I know this to be the case is that we had our three grandchildren for a 24 hour period this past week. The two boys went to school in the morning. My wife went to work (she is a teacher) and I was left to look after our 4 ½ year old grand daughter. She is an awesome and contented child although loves being busy. By the time her parents came home and we dropped off all three of them about 8 pm, I was so far beyond done.

The second thing I am noticing is that my passion and excitement about my work is not at the level I need it to be in order to go back. I love my job. I have the privilege of being the pastor of the best church in Canada. It is an exciting place to serve. I love the people I work with. We have a great leadership team. I dream about what God can do through our church and what we as a church can do to make a difference in our world. In some ways, it is hard for me to not go back and start putting an exciting vision into place but I know I am not ready for what it will take to actually do it and so it is best that I continue to rest for a while longer.

I stated above that rest is a discipline which must be learned. It is very similar to learning to eat vegetables because we know they are good for us or learning to have a daily time with God because we know it builds us spiritually and keeps us close to him. Not everyone has the privilege I am presently enjoying where they can take three months to rest. However, all of us can learn to rest even in the middle of life’s routines so that when we return to places of work, we can do so with energy and passion. Here are a few thoughts to help.

Rest is a very intentional withdrawal from the regular activities of our lives. This is the whole idea behind the Jewish Sabbath spoken of in Scripture. After six days of labour, one day was to be set part in which people were not to do their ordinary work but were commanded to rest. A strict set of laws was put into place in order to mandate this rest. Burdens could not be carried beyond certain distances. Only essential activities were to be taken on. Special foods were to be eaten; actually, feasting and celebration were to be the order of the day. God was to be given priority on that day. Even animals were to be rested. The intent of the seventh day was that it was to be a day which filled you up instead of depleted you.

Throughout my entire adult life, I have been a home handyman. I have more tools in my garage than I will ever be able to adequately use. I can do almost any household repair which needs to be done. My wife and I have built or renovated or redecorated almost every place in which we ever lived. I would work at my job all week and then on evenings and days off, work on our latest projects. However, I came to a conclusion not so long ago (sometimes it takes me a while). I was returning to work in order to get a rest rather than returning to work rested. As a result, I am now trying to take at least one day each week in which I do very little physical work. We may go watch our grandsons play football or go on a drive or a motorbike ride or attend some kind of event but I try to give my body a physical rest. It is an intentional withdrawal from that which takes my physical energy and I think it is helping.

Rest must be prioritized. It should be put into our Blackberrys, our daytimers, on our calendars, or whatever system you have to schedule our lives. If it is not, it just won’t happen because something will always come up which seems to be more urgent even though it is not necessarily as important. I mentioned above the need for weekly rest. It is also good to plan monthly rest which may be two full days rather than just one. A weekend away helps make this happen. Rest should also be planned yearly. We call this kind of rest a holiday and at least a signficant portion of that should be spent not visiting relatives or having them visit you.

Whenever we prioritize something it means we commit time, money, planning and energy into making sure it will happen. I mentioned earlier that we have a travel trailer at a place on the ocean (it is actually at our church camp but we believe it exists primarily for us). My wife and I are empty nesters but we still love to get away from home and go to the trailer because there is something about leaving behind the responsibilities and the things which remind us of our work and going to a place which is removed from where we are every day. It costs us money, it requires our time, we have to organzie our lives to make it work and sometimes, it would just be easier to stay home but it would not be the same. At the trailer, there is no TV. We can’t be reached by telephone solicitors. We can take leisurely walks on the beach in the fresh air and we can go to nearby towns where few if any people know us to shop or spend time together doing stuff we don’t seem to make time for when we are at home.

Rest also includes daily times with God. In Matthew 11:28-30 we read the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I learned the importance of this from my parents when I was very young and it has continued to be important for me throughout my life but particularly now. Wayne Cordeiro says, “My goal is not to study the Bible for an hour each morning. Rather, it is to let the Bible study me.!” This has been happening more and more during my time of rest. I have found that reading the Bible so that God can speak to me rather than so that I can preach to the people has been a great source of renewal for my spirit.

There are other things we can do to practice the discipline of rest. I have been getting more sleep as I have not had the demands of my job. Walking 3 or 4 times a week has been great for me. My eating habits have been adjusted. The wonderful byproduct of some of these changes has been a loss of pounds and an increase of energy. I am also realizing that the world will not fall apart when I am gone from it for a period of time. The church staff is more than capable of caring for things while I am away and is being given an opportunity to grow in their giftings and callings. I am also blessed to have a great friend to talk to who helps me process some of the things which brought me to the place of needing an extended rest. The important thing will be to continue with these practices once I return to my work responsibilities.

I am feeling more rested but I know that I am not done resting yet. In fact, I am not done learning how to rest. Two books which have been very helpful in my journey so far at Wayne Cordeiro’s Leading on Empty and Mark Buchanan’s The Rest of God. You should check them out.

And by the way, enjoy your rest.