I’m in that category—the one called “If you want something done, give it to a busy person”—with my Type-A perfectionist personality. [I haven’t taken the time to figure out my Enneagram yet, since it will probably tell me what I already know.] So not only am I a busy person, I’m one who finds significant importance and integrity in doing things well. I won’t do a job halfway; I pursue excellence in all that I take on, and unfortunately, I don’t always give myself the grace to just do what I can and/or fail.
So you can imagine if I also fall into another category that our society well recognizes: the “burn-out” culture. I don’t find myself there very often, as I have become more diligent about guarding my time as the years have passed, but I know it is a distinct possibility if I do overcommit. I won’t bore you with a list of my current responsibilities, or the ones about to land on my plate this fall, but I will say I’m more in danger of burning out by the end of the year than I have been in many years.
God’s call for this season: Rest.
Yesterday it was my delight to visit All Saints Anglican Church of Conroe, Texas, and hear Rev. Jon Beadle speak on this subject. He called attention to the meaning behind Sabbath, the holy day that God originated during Creation to be set apart for rest. It is a day when we set aside all the things that keep us busy the other six days a week and focus instead on God’s presence:
“In place of our exhaustion and spiritual fatigue, God will give us rest. All He asks is that we come to Him…that we spend a while thinking about Him, meditating on Him, talking to Him, listening in silence, occupying ourselves with Him—totally and thoroughly lost in the hiding place of His presence.”
Chuck Swindoll
Thinking, meditating, talking, listening—ways to occupy ourselves with the presence of God—are all forms of prayer. For the busy person that might not have a full day to devote to God alone, these are all ways we can focus on God in the “cracks” of time every single day, those moments in between that are otherwise empty of purpose or pursuit. What I have found, however, is that I’m able to accomplish more—and with excellence—themore time I spend practicing these forms of God’s presence in my life.
Connection is key.
To prevent the burnout, Jesus tells us that rest is necessary, but that doesn’t mean we need to sleep away our lives. It means we need to connect to Him directly and switch out our burdens. The demands that this world places upon us—work difficulties, family responsibilities, relationships—these things can weigh us down with pressure, anxiety, and depression. But Jesus offers us a swap:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 AMP
Salvation is the first swap: we don’t need to earn our way to heaven—Jesus is our way. Nothing we do can accomplish everything we desire, and certainly not perfectly. Taking Jesus into our beings not only saves our souls from that unrequited pursuit but refreshes us with hope. But there’s more than a ticket to eternity at stake. Here and now in this present life, we can know and learn from Him, be His disciple, and be renewed with a “blessed quiet”—an undisturbed spirit that is not dragged down into depths of darkness, but uplifted with a “yoke” that sloughs off those intensities of everyday life.
He is gentle and humble in heart.
When I imagine Jesus before me, He’s holding out His hands to take mine during my “cracks” of time, and He offers His chest to lay against. His smile and gentleness put my childlike heart at ease, His humble touch pushing away the hardness of hollow pursuits and replacing it with a peacefulness I can’t explain. A blessed quiet enfolds me, and I can breathe again. He’s been waiting for me. (Why have I not come sooner?)
How have you felt when practicing His presence in your “cracks” of time? Do you get refreshed to take on life’s pressures again when you meet with Jesus and rest in Him? Have you experienced the “burn-out” culture, or found your way out of it, holding His hand? What do you want other busy people to know about the goodness of God?
The Art of Choosing True Life 