The story is told of a man who went out to cut sugar cane with the cane cutters. He had psyched himself up for the task and he worked hard all day long. What frustrated him were the frequent breaks that the other cutters took and yet at the end of the day, despite his continuous hard and steady work, they cut more than him. When he asked, he discovered those were not rest times alone, but times to sharpen their instruments.
Resting is risky, but there are great benefits when we decide to rest.
* Rest provides the opportunity to take stock of my life. Somewhere along the way there needs to be some specific time when I evaluate my life and my loves.
* Rest provides the opportunity to invest in my relationships. Time is needed to build and invest in relationships with my wife and kids. They are not looking for a business relationship, or even for my seconds… but for my best. My best will always come out of a position of rest.
* Rest is a declaration that work is not my master. It’s just work.
* Rest helps me keep my identity clear. This is where many of my friends are struggling. They feel the pressure to be successful, and are therefore finding their identity in what they do. I am not my job. I am who God says I am.
* Rest provides the opportunity for reflection on God. This is something that we are probably not all that good at, but it is a discipline that we need to do regularly.
We don’t always see the benefits of taking time to rest, whether it be hours or days.
We are designed to rest. We need rest.
You may be asking a few questions…like…
“How do you rest?”
“Where did you begin?”
“What did you change?”
We asked many of the same questions… and we plan on sharing the answers we discovered throughout the rest of October.
So keep reading.
Tomorrow we are going to take a break from REST, and I’ll share one of the most ridiculous, and RISKY experiences of my life.
~Greg
{This is a series of posts for 31 Days of Rest & Risk. To read the other posts, click here.}
visiting from 31 days… excellent, excellent post. linking it to my fb and blog! 🙂
patty recently posted..31 Days {4} :: Let It Be
Thank you so much Patty for the link love!
“Resting is risky” – indeed. I’m studying abroad right now and for the past month, have found myself with a lot more time on my hands than I’m used to having…and all of that quiet is certainly risky, when I’m used to the comfort of external noise. But it certainly does allow me more time for God – and actually draws me deeper into relationship. Can’t wait to see where you’re going next with this!
Sonika recently posted..Me, a waitress?
I look forward to more of this series!
I love getting a deeper look into this past year. Thanks for sharing:)
reeve recently posted..31 Days : day four
oh! thank you, thank you, thank you for this!
“Rest helps me keep my identity clear.” This whole paragraph hits me like a ton of bricks. Yet, I still don’t feel I have an identity without… something. Thanks for sharing!