Several years ago, a figure skating coach I know decided—after 20 years of teaching—he would start training to compete again. That winter, every time I was at the rink, I watched him practice. He pushed himself to train, every single day, for months on end.
Finally, the big day came. He travelled halfway across the country to compete against other highly accomplished adult skaters at Nationals.
But soon after arriving, he experienced a crushing blow.
His back gave out, and he spent the entire event in pain, watching from the stands as a spectator.
In hindsight, he realized he had over-trained, and unfortunately his body reached its breaking point at the wrong time.
Sadly, his story is not unusual.
In his zeal to excel, he had ignored an important principle sometimes overlooked by dedicated athletes: the body needs regular time to rest and rebuild after exercise.
God incorporated rest not only as an essential part of our physical life—but also our mental and spiritual life.
In any endeavor, routine times of rest are vital to avoid discouragement and burnout.
Jesus often had crowds thronging Him, yet never rushed when dealing with people. He understood the importance of a balanced life. When the demands became high, He often snuck away to a mountainside or a quiet place to pray.
He encouraged His disciples to do the same:
“Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.” (Mark 6:31)
Today, rest remains a rare commodity for many people. They wear busyness as a badge of distinction, and day in and day out stay caught up in its frenzy.
And regrettably, the busier we get with all our “stuff”—work, kids, meetings, meals, exercise, chores, even ministry service—the less time we spend with the One who helps us most.
Jesus extends an ongoing invitation of refreshing to us all:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’” (Matthew 11:18)
In our drive to be productive, let’s remember the thing most worth being concerned about: spending time with the Lord each day, resting and refreshing ourselves in His presence.
Taking time to cease from our own work, we allow Him to do His work in us—renewing our strength, restoring our peace. We learn to hear His voice.
In His presence, we’ll find ourselves doing less, but accomplishing much more.
Copyright © 2017 Cheryl Elton
Thank you so much for this amazing blog. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Just looking at the peaceful illustration and reading your words made me feel rested and peaceful. Bless you Cheryl and thank you!
Glad to hear it blessed you, Patty. God is good!
God bless you sister Cheryl, I do enjoy reading your writings.
Thank you, Christopher. God’s blessings to you and your family.
Nice article! How true and important rest is. It kind of reminded me of a quote
from Mother Teresa ~ that I know you’re familiar with:
“The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The
fruit of service is peace.”
Thanks Tony! Love that quote.
This seems to be a sacred echo as my dad and I were just chatting about my grandfather. He painted souvenirs in his barn for the shops in Niagara Falls. He took a lunch break, and before supper locked up his shop and spent the evenings with his family. Later in life, he enjoyed reading books on Bible prophecy. He had good boundaries before the word was used as it is today. A good example to me who tends to be a little too driven . . . thanks for your good thoughts.
How nice to hear about your grandfather, Sarah. What a blessing to have such a role model.
Thanks for the reminder, Cheryl.
I hope you are seeing the beginning of spring up there.
Blessings to you, Nina! Not much of spring yet – still have snow on the ground from the blizzard two weeks ago.
This is so true, have experienced this reality. Out of that place of peace where Christ is enthroned, comes His mind, heart, presence…in the way that He desires it to be seen, heard and felt; the life-flow of God in us, our hope of glory. Thank you Cheryl for this reminder and focus.
You express it beautifully, Barb. Thanks to you, too!
Very true words, Cheryl. Somehow busyness is seen as a virtue and spending quiet time is interpreted as idleness or laziness. As if quiet time is not productive. Whenever I see a friend whom I haven’t seen in a while and ask what they’ve been up to, invariably they say something like “Oh, I’ve been keeping busy.” Seems like no one ever says “I’ve been quietly resting in the presence of the Lord.” Hmmm. Maybe our values really do need adjusting.
True what you say, Rich. To take a “day off” is seen as being unproductive somehow. God instituted the Sabbath for a reason, and although it’s not a commandment to us today, it’s still a good way to live. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.