Are you passionate about your ministry? Do you see needs everywhere you look? Does it seem like there will never be enough time to get everything done that needs to be done? Do you laugh when someone says you should rest? True confession, making time for weekly Sabbath type rest (which as Christians we have the flexibility to schedule any time), has never been one of my strengths. I have perhaps been known in the past to work until I literally make myself sick and my body forces me to rest.
The ironic thing is that Jesus took times of regular rest and insisted his disciples do the same. Jesus knew rest would actually make them more, not less effective at their ministry. Jesus does not spell out why rest is so important point by point, but here are a few of the ways our ministries can benefit when we take weekly times of Sabbath rest.
- It gives us time to really talk to God. I’m sure you pray, but when was the last time you gave yourself permission to rest in prayer with God in the same way you might have coffee with a close friend – poring your heart out to Him – instead of running down a quick bullet point prayer?
- It gives us time to really listen to God. No, I’ve never heard God’s actual voice, but I do think in my times of quiet rest – usually on a long walk – I can “hear” the Holy Spirit more clearly. I think it’s also easier to hear what God might be trying to tell you through scripture.
- It’s important for your health. You can’t minister very well if you’re really ill. Rest is crucial for good health. And many of us know from personal experience that when we don’t get enough rest, we will get so sick our bodies force us to rest.
- It improves your creativity. Ministry requires a lot of creativity. It’s almost impossible to be effectively creative when you are exhausted. In fact my best ideas usually come right after waking from a great night’s sleep.
- It provides time for godly strategic planning. Yes, sometimes that means a long to do list, but hopefully there are times when you also do godly strategic planning during your rest times.
- It provides time for godly counsel. We all need godly advisors if our ministries are to be truly impactful. It takes time to meet up with someone or even call or email them. Those connections usually sink to the bottom of our priority list if we don’t carve out times of rest in which to pursue them.
For most of us, our resolution from this point forward needs to be that we are as faithful to our time of weekly rest as we are to our Sunday worship service. (Note that your day of rest is probably best taken on a day other than Sunday.) Try it for a few months and see if you don’t feel better and your ministry isn’t more impactful.
For a minority of us, taking a time of rest becomes an excuse to procrastinate from doing the important, hard things effective ministry requires. If you are truly honest with yourself, I think you know in which camp you belong. If you remember the story in Mark 6:30-34, Jesus wanted the disciples to go some place quiet to rest. The people followed them and Jesus and the Apostles stopped to teach and feed the 5000. Notice that immediately after that unexpected critical need, Jesus put his Apostles on the boat and sent them away to get that much needed rest. Sometimes rest can keep us from doing the hard things, sometimes we need to do something hard and then rest and sometimes we need to rest so we can better minister to others. Whichever one it is, make the changes you need to make this week. You might just be surprised how transformative it is.