I’m a dad of two preschool age kids. I never knew that kids could have so much energy! It’s rare for them to not be running around at full speed.
But when they do run out of energy, my house quickly descends into meltdown mode.
See, when my kids are tired it becomes difficult for them to obey even the simplest of our household rules. That failure to obey leads to lots of drama and emotion.
You need to understand this truth if you want to walk closer to Jesus this new year. Tired disobedience isn’t a battle only preschoolers battle. When our energy runs out, so does our ability to obey Jesus.
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The new year seems to offer up hundreds of resolutions to implement. Work out more. Save more money. Read 50 books. Take a walk every evening. I could go on and on. And all over those are good, substantial changes you could make.
They could also leave you exhausted.
I’m all for resolutions. But hear me out. You can’t add more items into your schedule without deleting a few things. Many resolutions fail because people fail to make time and space in their schedule for new habits.
Perhaps the greatest resolution you could make is to rest this year. Rest is one of the most overlooked spiritual disciplines. Jesus rested throughout His ministry. Daily He retreated to pray. Several times He invited the disciples to go away with Him to rest. Jesus even slept through a huge storm while aboard a small boat.
Frantically running yourself ragged for the sake of the gospel isn’t what Jesus had in mind for you. Your relationship with Christ isn’t based on how many minutes of work you can shove into your day. Rather, it will grow and thrive when you take time every day to rest and focus your heart and mind on Jesus.
Our culture teaches us to wait until big events or holidays to make changes. Why do we wait until January 1 to make major changes in our habits? January 1 isn’t any better for making changes than a random Thursday in October. Rest is important to Jesus, so it’s something we have to prioritize right now – not in some hypothetical future when conditions might be better to rest more.
Exodus 20:8-11 tells us that God even rested after creating the world. Instead of continuing to work and enjoy the creation He had just made, He rested.
Here are some ways you can implement a resolution to rest:
Take a Sabbath.
Seriously. I know you will write this one off, but don’t forget that it is one of the 10 Commandments – even listed before the command to not murder… Take a look at your current Sabbath (probably Sunday when you go to church) and be honest about the amount of activities you do that day that you can categorize as rest versus the amount of activities that are really acts of busyness or work. Commit to removing one or two of the busy/work activities and replacing them with rest.
Have an electronic curfew.
Getting enough sleep is important to your spiritual and physical health. Decide right now what bedtime is best for you and your schedule, and set an alarm for yourself at least an hour ahead of that time to put away your computer, phone, iPad, TV, etc.
Look over your schedule weekly.
If you are married, do this with your spouse. When you are sure you’ve wrapped your head around all that you need to do each week, ask yourself how much rest you will get that week. And then reassess. Cut out an activity, figure out a way to get something done faster, or ask for help from your spouse or a friend.
Say no.
I would guess that you could say no to 90 percent of the opportunities that come your way and still be plenty busy. Give yourself permission to say no to things that just fill up your schedule so you can say yes to the things that are most important.
We all need a rhythm of rest in our schedules. If you regularly find yourself talking or thinking about how busy you are, then these challenges are for you. I pray you will accept the challenge and seek out how rest can change this year for you!
