Rest Comes with Discipline
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”
Isn’t rest kind of the opposite of discipline…?
Nope!
Rest is like any other aspect of faith: it requires discipline, self-control, and trust in God Our Father. In requires us to be disciplined to set aside time for rest. Then we have to use that discipline to guard it viciously, so that we can properly follow God’s commandment about the Sabbath.
And by viciously, I mean viciously. It is no easy feat to have a rest day. In fact, in modern society, it might even be more difficult to guard and set aside time for rest. Today in American the answer to every question is “more.” More money, more effort, more side hustles, more energy expended on your business or project or talents or anything else that can be good, but unrestful. Taking a day off is sometimes even viewed as a sign of weakness, or not taking a day off can be viewed as a badge of honor.
Given that the Sabbath is a commandment from God, it’s also a target for spiritual attack. The enemy doesn’t want you to rest, because he knows that a) it will make you more productive and give you more energy to commit to the tasks that God has given you in the Kingdom; b) it will give you a chance to refocus on God and worship Him; c) not resting is a sin that will pull you away from God, which is exactly where the enemy wants you.
Additionally, we may just have minds that like to do things that are difficult to turn off. Once we get going on a project, we don’t want to stop for anything. In our own human nature, we might rebel against the idea of rest in favor of getting our latest masterpiece finished and out the door.
All of these things mean we need to be practical and disciplined about our rest! Choose your Sabbath day, mark it on your calendar, and guard it with every ounce of energy you can spare. Don’t accept meetings on that day, don’t pick up your pen and marker, don’t turn on your computer or microphone. If you can — and this is a habit that takes time to master — don’t even think about your work, talents, or abilities; focus on other things that are not related to the projects at all!
And don’t be all sneaky and try to use your Sabbath as chance to practice or brush up on a new skill or study a new book related to your project or abilities. The focus is God!
Putting it into Action: now that you have chosen your Sabbath, keep it. Fend off all attempts to encroach on it by work or your projects or talents. Sleep in as much as you need that morning, eat a good breakfast, don’t make any move towards work. Read the Bible, dive into a study or a good sermon, spend time praying and resting in the Lord. Take care of your family, spend time discipling them and caring for them! Do what you need to do to rest and make it a holy day for the Lord.
