I’ve been on an extended ministry trip for about seven weeks now. While it has been packed with speaking, consulting and other ministry activities, I didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard. After all, I had taken a few days of rest in the middle, right? That is until I caught a cold. I rarely get sick and I recovered in just a few days from this one. All good, right? And then I went to bed the other night. Eleven hours later I woke up and felt like I could have slept a little more even then.
Our bodies and minds are designed to need rest. God even built it into Creation – one full day of rest each week. In fact God made it part of the Mosaic Law, along with other periods of rest like some of the holidays and the Year of Jubilee. Somehow, when Christianity began, we lost that day of rest. It was no longer commanded, so it just fell away in the busyness of our world. Oh, we still worship once a week, but those in ministry know Sunday is anything but restful.
I can’t find anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus indicates we no longer need rest. In fact, after a particularly busy time in their ministry, Jesus specifically told his disciples to go and rest. Yet, we feel it is somehow necessary for us to minister to others day after day without taking more than the bare minimum of rest needed to survive. No wonder the burn out rate in ministry is so high!
Don’t wait until you get sick or sleep for twelve straight hours. Carve out time for complete rest (not just switching from ministry to family duties) one day a week. If you can’t find that time, something needs to change. Perhaps you need to delegate more. Maybe your family members need to set aside some of their leisure time on devices and help you more. Worst case scenario, maybe you need to stop doing some things entirely.
When we don’t rest enough, we become moody and find it hard to make decisions or be creative. We aren’t our best selves and may even drive people away with our less than rested crankiness. Or we make lots of unnecessary mistakes that cost our ministry time and money.
At first, you may feel a little guilty. Remember though that this Sabbath type rest is not binging on Netflix or watching hours of sports or playing video games. It’s time spent sleeping, exercising, praying, studying scripture, being creative, listening to music…. doing all of those things that truly restore your soul. When you do this weekly, you may just be surprised at how much more energy you have and how your ministry improves as well. If nothing else, you will be in a better place to handle whatever happens in your ministry.