When I worked full time in youth ministry, I noticed disturbing trend in the kids I worked with. With every passing year, they got busier and busier. Between homework, after school jobs, sports, extra-curricular activities, etc. many of them were scheduled end to end from before school until bedtime. Not every student reached that kind of excess, but it was rare to find kids who had any completely free days, apart from holidays.

This was in a bigger community, which in many ways was different from Big Sandy, but there is a strange cultural phenomena at play that is destructive.

Busyness is seen as a virtue in our culture. I am guilty of this as well, so I am not writing this as a lecture. Rather, it is worth being aware of the strange reality that taking on too much is valued in our culture. When asked how things are going, it is very normal to hear the response: busy or rushed.

I often hear folks complain about their need of an extra day in the week just to get things done at home. Constant movement has become the norm in our culture and it’s not difficult to see the fallout in people’s lives.

I read recently that the average parent spends 40% less time with their kids than they did a generation ago. This is due to work obligations and other factors. Stress can be linked in one way or another to the six leading causes of death in our country.

A year ago, I read a book on overwork in the pastoral professions that talked at length about the idea of taking weekly sabbath days. Sabbath days are simply days of rest, where you don’t work. Instead, you rest, read, play, spend time with family, pray, etc. The idea is that God designed us to take time off to spend with Him, each other, and to enjoy his creation. Sabbath is so important that it is included in the 10 Commandments alongside directions to not kill or steal.

I have found that taking one sabbath day a week is extremely difficult, mainly because of my own unwillingness to not work. It’s a huge temptation to use my rest day to clean the house or do work I couldn’t fit in any other time. Even when I did manage to take a rest day, I found that I tended to feel guilty for doing it.

There were things I should be getting done. Additionally, I’d tend to find “rest” activities that made me busier than I would be on normal days. This left me more tired than I was before I took the day off. This is related to the idea that being busy is a virtue. However, the crazy reality is that being unnecessarily over-busy is damaging to our health and our spiritual lives.

Rest is a basic requirement of spiritual and relational health. Having a day of rest doesn’t just happen. I have found that it takes planning and intentional effort.

House work and chores have to get done in advance and will power has to be exerted when faced with the temptation to take on new work tasks in our free time. The danger that lurks behind neglect of taking sabbath rests is the potential for being forced to take them.

When I work too hard and neglect rest, eventually I get sick and am forced to take time off. Worse, extreme instances of overwork can result in burn out, which necessitates many days of rest to recover. Rest is one of the best gifts God has given to His creation, but it’s a gift we have to make ourselves enjoy.