Something I have discovered as I have studied rest over the last few years is that it is counter cultural. We live in a society where the standard answer to ‘how are you?’ is ‘busy’, and exhaustion seems to be a badge of honour.
At some point we need need to be willing to break the cycle and embrace rest.
To advocate for rest, to suggest that there is actually a better way, seems to be unusual. I hear people say a lot, “I don’t have time to rest”, “I’m to busy to take a sabbath” or there’s no time in my work day to have a lunch break. I used to be that person.
When You Don’t Make Time For Rest – It Catches Up With You
I learned the hard way, that if you don’t make time for rest, at some point it will catch up with you. I hurt my back around 18 months ago. I felt the start of it, but I told myself I was too busy to rest. I told myself that my workplace couldn’t possibly do without me, (pretty arrogant of me when you really think about it). I convinced myself that it would be fine, I could just walk it off.
I ended up herniating the disc at the L5 vertebrae of my spine. Because of how it herniated and where the inside of the disc is sitting, I have permanent numbness down one leg, continual sleep issues and problems with my back that can only be fixed with a spinal fusion or a healing.
I tell this story to say that there are about 1000 different ways that I could have handled this at the time, and although hindsight is 20/20 many of them would have ended differently for me. I could have trusted my team, instead of thinking I needed to do it all myself and I could have listened to my body and rested.
Rest Leads to Productivity
The thing is there is no reward out there for living in a way that is culturally acceptable but not in our own best interests. Since this injury, I have changed pretty much everything about the way I live, work, and rest, and I found that I am actually far more productive than I was before. Even with the health issues, I am far more effective now, because I make time to rest, I work in a way that is productive and I make sure that I am following biblical wisdom on rest, not societal norms.
If you are feeling like you have no time to rest, that is a sign that you may need to have a serious look at your schedule. We all need rest to function at our best for the people that matter the most in life. We need rest to be the best version of ourselves in all the areas we are called to be in.
Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.
About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.
Feature image: Canva
