Why Does God Command Us to Rest?

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:1-3).

Before God ever established the law, he established a principle of rest. Unlike us, God did not need to rest, because he does not get tired. He rested because he was setting a standard for us to follow. Later on, when God gave the law, he further solidified this principle.

“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12, emphasis added).

The Physical Implications of a Lack of Rest

If you find yourself tired or exhausted, it could be you are violating the principle of rest. It is a lot easier to do that now. If you go back in time, most businesses used to be closed on Sundays. Not anymore. Beyond that, studies have shown we are sleeping less and working more. Even when we take time off from work, we don’t even know how to enjoy that properly. Consider these statistics from Forbes.

• 54% of people work while on vacation.
• 59% of people struggle to switch off from work while on vacation.
• 63% of people feel anxious if they don’t check their work-related messages while on vacation.
• 86% of people receive relaxation-disrupting calls and messages from colleagues while on vacation.
• 54% feel guilty if they work while on vacation.
• 47% feel guilty if they don't work while on vacation.
• One in four admitted that their boss demands them to work on vacations.
• 34% of people choose to work while on vacation because they love their job. However, 29% do so out of fear of losing it.

 This lack of rest ultimately can have physical, emotional, and mental implications. Within that same article, they mentioned two alarming statistics.

• 70% of people have experienced mental health issues due to overworking, with 43% suffering from anxiety and one in eight turning to harmful substances.
• Two-thirds of workers have experienced alarming physical health issues, such as chronic pain and a weakened immune system, caused by overworking. 

Further medical research has connected a lack of rest to several issues, including obesity, depression, heart failure, and even dementia. Employees that don’t get enough rest are far more likely to be unfocused, miss days of work or get injured on the job. With all these potential consequences from a lack of rest, clearly God knew what he was doing when he commanded us to rest. He was looking out for our overall well-being.

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Lack of rest goes beyond just affecting job performance or health. There are also some serious spiritual consequences that can result from a lack of rest. Sometimes as Christians, we treat busy and tired as a badge of honor. If you are extremely busy and exhausted, you must be doing something right. While that could be true, have you considered that it might do more harm than good? Here is a simple truth I want you to consider. A tired Christian is a vulnerable Christian.

If you ever watch sports, pay attention to what happens to athletes when they get tired. They may have lots of energy, fight, and enthusiasm when the game starts. However, when the game lingers on and fatigue sets in, you may notice their energy levels drop. The strength and passion they had at the beginning diminishes. When this happens, they can be a little less focused and pay less attention to details. They may also lose the will to win. When you are tired, you are more likely to give up, give in, or give out.

This same principle applies spiritually. When you are tired, you become more prone to temptation, you may lose patience with other people, which can easily damage relationships, and spending time in prayer and in the word becomes less of a priority. You just may not have the energy to do it. That’s why you become vulnerable and why rest is so important.

There is a saying that I heard that says fatigue makes cowards of us all. By ignoring your need for rest and pushing yourself beyond that, you are setting yourself up for failure. Lack of rest is not a badge of honor but a recipe for disaster, and when you violate God’s principle of rest, as you can see, it comes with some potentially severe consequences.

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One reason you may choose not to rest is because you are concerned about everything you must do. Here is a rest principle that I believe will help you. 

Just because there is more to do does not mean you have to do it or that you have to do it right now.

Sometimes with the volume of things in front of you, you think you must do it all or you must do it all right now. Neither of those things is true. Here is a fact of life: There is always going to be more to do. Ask yourself this question. Have you ever gotten to the place where you have finished everything and there is nothing left to do? Even if you have, it won’t take long before something else pops up.

My wife used to tell me when she does the laundry, she wants to wash every piece of clothing in the house, so there are no dirty clothes left. Her goal is to have all the laundry baskets empty. As I listened to her, I simply told her one thing. The moment you finish washing all the clothes in the laundry basket, the clothes we are wearing are going to go right back into the laundry basket. Laundry is never finished because there will always be more. The same is true about work, ministry, or just about everything else we do. It is never finished. That’s why you must be intentional about building rest into your life, because if you wait until everything is completed, you will never rest. There will always be something else to do.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Anna Efetova

When Jesus walked the earth, he was cognizant of the need for us to rest. Going to work, whether it is secular or sacred, can drain you and you need to recharge. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Jesus even recognized this with his disciples. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus commissions his disciples and sends them out to work.

“Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits” (Mark 6:6-7).

“So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6:12-13).

The disciples went out and did this ministry work. When they returned, look at what Jesus tells his disciples.

“Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves” (Mark 6:30-32, emphasis added).

The disciples worked so hard they did not even have time to rest or eat. Jesus told them to stop, get away from the people around you, rest, and eat. The disciples followed his instructions, got in a boat, and went on a cruise to a deserted place.

How many times have you worked through lunch, skipped a meal, or given up sleep because there was work you needed to finish? That might be okay for a brief period, but Jesus recognized that is not a good long-term strategy. He clearly defines there is a time to work and a time to rest.

My friend, you do not differ from the disciples. You need times where you get away from the busyness of life and rest for a while. Take your cue from Jesus and do what the disciples did. Go on a cruise.

Final Thought

As long as you live, there will always be a time to work and a time to rest. This is the principle and cycle that God established for us from the beginning, and if you violate that principle, eventually you will give out. You will have no strength left or nothing left to offer, because your cup is empty and you can’t pour from an empty cup, so stop trying to. Acknowledge that it is okay and wise to rest.

God established rest as a principle and then a command. Jesus reinforced that idea. Now you need to incorporate rest into your life. There will always be more to do, but if you don’t get proper rest, then you might not be around to do it.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Markos Man