The Problem of Rest

written by Chris Hartenstein
We need to move, to be productive, to make a difference, to be impactful, to bear fruit, and to change the world in which we live. These are the phrases I hear when I wrestle with rest both in my own heart and with others.

Rest is that other “four-letter word” and it feels dirty. Why is that? Why do we struggle to rest?

I was raised that you work hard, give one hundred and ten percent and then you can rest both physically, but on the outcome of your hard work. The Bible and the world God created tell a different story. Let me recap…

- God made the first day of the week “a sabbath.” A day to rest from all the work we do. He even modeled this for us in Genesis 1!
- He then added honoring the sabbath to the Big Ten Commandments. (Ex. 20)
- He made the Jewish traditions of a day to start at sunset the night before at sunset and end before sundown the next day.  
- Jesus discussed that we need to “abide in the vine”, to do anything well. A direct reference to rest, relationship, and responsibility. (John 15)
- Jesus also stated the “sabbath was created for man” not the other way around. (Mark 2:27)
- The seasons of planting show the need to rest a field then make it productive.  

All His created order starts with REST and ends in WORK. We rest, get to be at our best, and then we engage. The Sabbath was a day to put first what was meant to be FIRST in human life, intimacy with Abba Father. The deep heart connection to Him that allows us to truly rest, to truly let go, and let down.

But what do we need to “receive” to rest? That’s the question we need to answer before we discuss how to rest. We always want to “do” something first, but let's look at our mindset. There are consistent truths we need to trust. Let's look at three:

- Enter rest as a beloved son or daughter of a good Dad. If I enter rest in this manner then I can see that I actually am “afforded” rest. We have a good Dad who wants us to be at our best, connected intimately with Him, and making an impact on the world He created us to make. He loves us enough to take care of things in our life, in our sphere of influence and responsibility so that we can rest. We must TRUST that He is offering us rest.    
- Productive vs Fruitful. (John 15) Making an impact is a big deal in our culture. It becomes a basis for worth and value. And yet Jesus never says…be productive. He says to bear fruit. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. We all know what it means to be productive, what does it mean to bear fruit? In Jesus' “abide” scenario. Fruit is an outcome of being close to himself and God, not simply hard work. It denotes us being WITH Him. Moving in sync, acting out of obedience. Ultimately we are MOST focused on closeness and connection to Jesus, not on the cause we think we are doing FOR him. Am I most devoted to relationships or responsibility?
- Last for this week…simply is that I am at my best when I am rested physically, emotionally, and mentally and connected spiritually to Jesus. PERIOD. That means rest is meant to be a priority and key to our heart health. We gotta have it. When we get fried, we are at our least, lowest place. Burnout never produces any good. So why do it?

So this begs the question, which of the three above truths do you most struggle to trust? Knowing and pressing into which (or maybe all three) will help transform your rhythms of rest.    

Next post we will discuss the “how”: ways in which we rest!  

Calibration:
- How do you define rest? Where does that come from?
- Do you feel you have to earn rest? Why?
- Do you get value and worth from being productive? Why? Where does that mindset come from?
- What has shifted in your thinking about rest after reading this? Why? What can you do to make one change in your rhythms this week to rest?

Recent

Archive

 2024
 May

Categories

Tags

2020 Accept Adventure AncientLessons Answers BattlingThroughtheWilderness BillyHare Blogpost Burden Chaos Code CoreHeartQuestions Covid Detachment Deuteronomy30 DirectionDetermineDestination EnemyWithin EnemyWithout Ephesians1 Ephesians4 Ezekiel2626 FTN FalseTrueNorth Father Following Goodness Guide HNF HOME Heart Her New Fronier HolySpirit How do I live by a code? HowDoILive J.A.Hart Jesus is king Jesus: the Ultimate Example Jesus' example John10:10 John1 KingJesus Kingdom Series Kingdom of Heaven King Listening Livingasadaughter Livingasason Luke5 Mark2 Mentors MichealCassinari Montana NewCreation NewLife NewNature NewWine Normal OldNature OldWinskins Phillipians Question Reject Restoration Rhythmsofsonship Rhythms Romans8 SaintAugustine Shame Sons SouthAfrica THJ TN The New Normal TheCalltoAdventure TheCall TheGreaterStory TheHeroicJourney TheReturn TheVictory TheWilderness TrueNorth WanderingintheWilderness WhereDoIBelong WhoAmI WhyAmIHere WorkIn WorkOut a different story abide abiding above all else the heart above all else acceptance ancient lesson anxiety battle series battle weapons battle batttle blog post blog brother build the family cease-fire challenge change christmas church clarityvsunderstanding clarity community series community created order culture current daily path daughter defining effective environment exercises family fear forgiveness forgive four soils foursoils friendship fully known fully fundraising gift of rest giving grace in community god to man good soil goodsoil happy newyear hardpath healthy vs toxic shame healthy-fear healthy heart of the father heartofthefather heavenly dad heavenlyfather her new frontier home honor applied honor how can I rest how do we battle well? how to rest how to how we love how humility in true community humility image-bearer inner expirience interveiw interview janet joshua kingdom of chaos kingdom of rest kingdomofheaven kingdom known lifetothefull life love loyalty man to man mark sayers meditation methods mindsets miracle more than words moses motives movement of the heart movements myself new frontier new wine new year newyear of old vs new old wineskin older brother olderbrother older oneness vs unity oneness outer expirience parable of the sower parables parable part one part three parttwo paul peace poster child for burnout prayer life prayer warrior prayer problem of rest process prodigal son prodigal quote receive receiving rest receiving reconciles to me reconciliation reconnection reflections relationships relationship release and receive release rest series rest rhymths rhythms series rhythmsseries rhythm ruth hartenstein ruth sabbath scripture self-improvement self-sufficiency series soilseries soil sonship spiritual warfare stories aroundthefire stories surprise surrender vs self-improvement surrender the heart the older brother the path blog the path the prodigal son the prodigal thestorycircle the thorny soil three weeks tnfadventures toxic transform true community true truth understanding unity versesseries voices vs wantednotneeded warrior war way week three what I believe what kingdom do you live in what kingdom who sets my rhythms why abide why is rest important wilderness wineskin word study younger brother youngerbrother young