Are you any good at resting?
I’m never going to be accused of being lazy. But I could, far more easily, be accused of not resting very well.
If I’m in bed I’m either asleep or pretty ill. Simply lazing about does not come naturally to me, so it can be hard for me to properly rest when I do get the opportunity.
While in Spain my wife and I were not coping with what many other British holiday makers were doing – sitting by the pool seemingly filling the time between breakfast and dinner, day after day.
We do not do well at not doing anything. But, doing nothing on purpose is something very different - there is a world of difference between the two, and we all need times when we can deliberately, and intentionally, do nothing.
I was sat in a coffee shop the other day watching the world go by. I felt guilty for doing it, and then got righteously challenged by a wise friend, who didn’t ask me why I wasn’t being busy, but pointed out that I shouldn’t be leaving it to just once every few years! We all need friends like that in our lives - thank you Mary.
Perhaps you’re a worship leader, and you struggle to worship, unless you’re stood at the front behind a keyboard and microphone…I’ve struggled with that one over the past 35 years as a worship leader. You need to take that one to God in prayer, and probably, rather urgently, need to step down for a while. Our relationship with God matters more than our ability to simply fill in for any single function in the church.
Oh yeah, the other thing about doing nothing on purpose, is that it gives God a chance of speak into our busy brains. Much like fasting from food, we also need to fast – on occasion – from the busyness, and the business, of life.
So schedule in some time when you disengage from the ebbs and flows of life, and take a little time. It isn’t self-indulgence, but a necessity to have some to ourselves. Don’t cut yourself off from other people in your life, but some time with your phone switched off is rarely wasted.
Just a thought…
Andy B
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