Work-Rest Balance
There hasn’t been a time in history before, where we had such great efficiencies in getting things done as now. Thanks to technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs, life has become easy, yet we struggle to have quality time. That’s because even though we get quicker results with less effort, everything has become fast paced. The paradox of technology is that it saves us time, yet it steals our time.
Many people these days find it difficult to have work-life balance. I call it work-rest balance, because our life includes both work and rest. We cannot separate our life from our work, because for most of us, work takes the greatest quantity of our time.
The biblical principle of work-rest balance is to work six days and rest on the seventh day. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns (Exodus 20: 8-10 NIV).”
The law of nature enables us to work during the day and rest during the night, during which we refresh ourselves. We strike an imbalance in our work-rest equilibrium when we violate the principles of our nightly and weekly rest.
If you work when you should be resting, your will soon feel the stress and burnout from mental and physical exhaustion. If you continue working late and without a break, you will, in due time, get ill and will have to rest to recover. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11: 28-30 NIV).”
The enemy attacks people when they are too tired. It’s easy to defeat a person when they are mentally and physically weak. The best strategy for a believer is not to get too tired in any area of their life. Watch out for signs of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual weariness. When you know you are tired, take the time to rest awhile before it’s too late. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5: 8 ESV).
To be our best, we have to rest. We rest best when we rest in the Lord, surrendering all our problems into His hands and wait upon Him. This rest in not just the physical rest, but an inward rest of our soul, where we completely trust God. The more we learn to rest in the Lord, the marvellous it gets, He heals our wounds, He revives our strength and makes us ready for work. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety (Psalms 4:8 NIV).
