Every Christian says we should do this, but many of us struggle to follow through with the fourth commandment: remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
I remember how at my Christian college they would encourage students to rest and take time to pull away from the hustle and bustle … but they also had most of us working 70+ hours per week on homework, jobs to pay off student loans, and other classwork. A strange expectation had been placed on students to get involved in extracurricular activities, and if they chose not to, they didn’t “contribute to the intentional community” that the campus attempted to foster.
So we overworked ourselves. We contracted illnesses from compromised immune systems. And we got burned out.
Why do believers often have such a difficult time carving out hours or days dedicated to rest?
Perhaps, like myself, they heard that Christians should put one hundred percent of effort into everything. That they should evangelize until they dropped and serve willingly until their legs couldn’t hold themselves up any more.
Don’t get me wrong. We should do everything with integrity, serve with full hearts, and embrace whatever opportunities we can to share the Gospel. But as I attempted to formulate my New Years’ resolution, I stumbled upon a verse in the Bible I’d never considered before.
Luke 5:16: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Jesus withdrew. He took time to rest. We have to keep in mind He had three years tops for his ministry. Jesus spent the majority of his life as a carpenter. From the ages of 30-33 He evangelized. That didn’t give him a whole lot of time to witness to the Jewish people.
And yet, often He rested.
We can often skip over the fact that on the seventh day God rested as well. He could’ve created in the span of six days, but He chose to add another day dedicated to pausing.
Maybe instead of forming resolutions full of items like “I plan to finish my book this year,” or “I plan to clean the house more frequently,” we can create a rest-o-lution. We can ensure we dedicate a day a week, and hours in each day, to rest and allow God to work behind the scenes.
After all, He has a wonderful plan for us. And He commands us to rest. We can rest in the fact that He will do what He says He will do, even if we take some time off.
Hope Bolinger is an editor at Crosswalk.com, a literary agent at C.Y.L.E., and a graduate of Taylor University’s professional writing program. More than 1,000 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer’s Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Her modern-day Daniel trilogy released its first two installments with IlluminateYA, and the final one, Vision, releases in August of 2021. She is also the co-author of the Dear Hero duology, which was published by INtense Publications. And her inspirational adult romance Picture Imperfect releases with Mountain Brook Ink in October of 2021. Find out more about her at her website.
Danny knew his sophomore year would be stressful . . . but he didn’t expect his school to burn down on the first day.
To make matters worse (and they were about to get a lot worse), he — and his three best friends — receive an email in their inboxes from the principal of their rival, King’s Academy, offering full-rides to attend the town’s prestigious boarding school. Danny wants nothing to do with King’s Academy and says no. Of course his mother says yes. So off he goes to be bullied and picked on for not being part of the popular and rich “in crowd.”
From day one at King’s, Danny encounters hazing, mocking insults from girls at the “popular and pretty” table, and cafeteria food that, for such a prestigious school, tastes as if it were purchased from a military surplus supply warehouse. If he survives, Danny will have to overcome his fears of failure, rejection, and loneliness—all while standing strong in his beliefs and walking into the fire.
