Ask me how I’m doing and I might talk about being busy.
It’s like a plea for help mixed with a humblebrag of self-importance. Half of us don’t use all of our paid vacation days, and nearly two-thirds of us feel guilt for resting. We have an action addiction. Our life has no pause button. We need to give it a rest. It’s time to take a nap.
Corrie ten Boom assures us that if the devil can’t make us sin, he’ll make us busy. Dallas Willard encourages the resistance of busyness through the ruthless elimination of hurry. I’ll add that to my to-do list.
We all need productivity and pleasure, work and rest. The latter only comes after the former, but addiction to the former makes it impossible to enjoy the latter.
Rest is among the Ten Commandments, but it’s been treated as an arbitrary piece of advice. God rests (Gen 2:2), but some of us are determined to survive on grit and Red Bull. It’s a strange way to live for a Lord who promised an easy yoke (Mt. 11:28-30). Discipleship asks a lot. But if we refuse to follow Jesus when he steps away from the crowds for prayer and solitude, it might not be Jesus we are truly following.
We often mistake chronic busyness for kingdom business. One of these is an enjoyment of God, while the other one is an addiction to a life that is God-adjacent. We should not confuse anxiety for affection.
My childhood liturgy was littered with vocational hymns that urged frenzied activity, much to do and work on every hand. So get busy sowing seeds, bringing in sheaves, throwing out lifelines, and sending lights. We skipped verses of Take Time to be Holy, trimmed 56 minutes off Sweet Hour of Prayer, and closed the gathering with a reminder of the next appointed time. Mark your calendars. Worship became a workshop.
We became exhausted and addicted, going to bed with melatonin and waking up with caffeine. On our worst days we believe that overworking will save us, yet our Savior suggests otherwise. He promises that all of this worry will not add an hour to our life (Mt. 6:27). That’s a shame, cause I have some extra things to take care of.
The temptation is to think that all we need is to find that one thing that saves us time and helps us do more. But what if it’s not about addition, but instead subtraction. What if removing something is the key? That’s the mystery of Sabbath. It’s not a day that makes us fall behind; it’s a day to reconsider what we really wanted and needed in the first place.
Our way is not working.
And working is getting in the way.
I’m really excited about the material we will experience in our Launch Groups starting June 8. The Practicing the Way curriculum will guide us through the Sabbath practice. J is already equipping leaders so they will be ready to lead our groups through these meaningful sessions. Please be sure to carve out time on Sundays at 9:45 from June 8-August 31 for these meaningful gatherings. These gatherings won’t give us more things to do; instead they will help us focus on something we cannot live without: rest.
