ON REST - Part 1

It’s no secret that ‘creatives’ are often known to be emotional and sensitive people. This can be both a blessing and a curse. When I notice myself taking things more personally than I should, or when my melancholy seems more frequent or more intense, it is very likely that I am simply just tired. 

I certainly don’t mean to over-simplify what I’m going through. I keep my doctor, my mentor and my counsellor very busy with my various mental and spiritual health concerns! 

But the fact is, often enough the prescription for me starts with REST.

The science of exercise tells us that our muscles don’t actually grow when we are running or lifting weights. In fact, the gains our body makes happen when we rest and recover, after pushing and stretching our muscles to lift more, or run longer. In fact, without proper rest and recovery, muscles can actually atrophy or get smaller. In other words, we work against ourselves when we don’t rest.

This is a life principle, not to mention a biblical one. Rest is built into our spiritual rhythm from the very begin of the biblical narrative with a day of rest in the creation account. And ‘remember the sabbath’ is the fourth commandment given to Israel in Exodus.

If you know how to rest well, you decrease the wear and tear on your body, mind and spirit over the long term. You’re likely to get sick less often, and it’s proven that you’ll live longer too. By building a rhythm of rest into your life in the short term, you gain strength over the long term.

Even sports teams know this to be true and use it to their advantage. The Vancouver Canucks in fact have a full time ‘Recovery Coach’, whose responsibility is to help the team members REST.

Are we getting the point? Let’s all try and be a bit more intentional about our recovery time. Take this not as an admonition, but as an encouragement from Jesus himself to ‘find rest for your soul’ (Matthew 11). I don’t think you’ll regret it.