Every summer, I am blessed with the opportunity to drive a swather for a friend of mine in the church. I know many farmers consider swathing to be as interesting as watching paint dry, but I enjoy it because it gives me an opportunity to get away from cell phone reception and my regular work commitments. Swathing days are 8 to 10 hours of time to think and breathe without any pressing concerns or emergencies to deal with. Every time I go out to drive, my friend reminds me of the same rule: Always check the oil before you turn the key. The oil is always fine, but it’s still an iron clad rule. Everyone with an understanding of mechanics and the cost of repairing equipment knows the reason for the vigilance. Machines need regular oil changes and maintenance to run properly. Running equipment without enough oil, with the wrong fuel, or without proper care results in catastrophes. Machinery that doesn’t receive the proper care and maintenance will not last long.

Throughout my professional life, I have learned that difficult truth time and again. Machinery, organizations, and people require regular care and maintenance in order to function properly. We need rest. We need healthy relationships to continue running properly. People need to let off emotional steam now and again in healthy ways to maintain our own lives. Most people know this simple concept, but fail to live it out in their own lives. Whenever we work every day for months, without breaks or sleep, we push ourselves toward breakdowns. Often, we choose to rest without doing proper maintenance on ourselves. It shouldn’t be too surprising when we begin to struggle to continue day after day.

In a machine, warning lights kick on when there is a need for maintenance. People have warning lights as well, but they don’t blink red on and off to get your attention. Still, they are warning lights. When we are constantly tired, irritable, grow forgetful or careless in unusual ways, struggle to sleep, stop talking to our spouse or kids, or any number of other malfunctions in our lives, it’s a sign that something isn’t working right. Unfortunately, we don’t pay attention to those signs. It’s far easier to just get up, fire up the engine, and get to work than to take the time to check the oil or tune up the machine.

For people, regular maintenance isn’t exactly difficult. However, it is hard to do because it means stopping and doing something that isn’t work. For many, simple escape is the “go to” response to stress. We turn on the tv or open Facebook on our phone and tune out. This is the rough equivalent of simply shutting off the swather. It isn’t restful. It is escape. Rest is sometimes active. It involves going for walks, spending time with your spouse, having conversations about something other than work, playing games, or other things that require a little effort. These things are the oil changes and tune ups for the mind and heart.

The Bible describes another: Taking sabbath days weekly. This isn’t necessarily on the same day every week or anything like that. It is just taking a day to enjoy the fruit of your labor and spend time with God. Taking sabbath gives work meaning, puts life into the proper context, and creates a sense of how our work fits into the larger scheme of our lives. In addition, spending time with God gives us opportunity to grow through our experiences.

The hardest thing about rest is actually taking it and doing it properly. We all recognize the need to do this in relation to our equipment, yet for some reason applying the concept to ourselves is difficult. The key to the whole thing is intentionality. We have to do it on purpose.