Why Our Resting Is Restless
It’s hard to take a break. There are at least three reasons.
First, our modern age has normalized the expectation of constantly getting things done, and even when we’re not, to be getting better at getting things done. It’s as if you are valuable to the degree of your efficiency and effectiveness; an extended lunch break is not only repugnant to your coworkers but worst of all, it’s bad for the economy. And vacations are justifiable only because they have been proven to increase productivity.
Second, our technology burdens us with the constant availability of good things that could be done. You might be eating lunch but why settle for simply attending to your bodily needs when you could be learning a new language, catching up on the latest industry news, or sending an encouraging message to a friend? Even if you don’t multitask, the fact that you can increases your anxiety and diminishes your downtime.
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Third, ever since sin entered the world, our work teases us with partial fulfillment. Remember how God looked at the work of his hands and saw that it was good? We were meant to do something similar. As image-bearers of God, we were created to cultivate God’s creation and then look at our work with satisfaction, just as he did. But original sin makes work a “painful toil,” (Gen. 3:17) and we cannot complete our tasks without thorns and thistles impeding true success. Even when we know we should take a break we see our incomplete work and tell ourselves getting it done will be better than taking a rest. We are longing for pre-fall work and that’s why we can’t rest.
We continue in sinful non-rest until we trust in the Savior. His finished work negates the necessity of finishing ours. His forgiveness makes up for our mistakes and his justification gives us assurance when our work won’t.
I wish there weren’t such productivity lies and technological temptations pestering us. But more than that, I wish more people would trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the pandemic, there’s been some good pushback to “busy culture” as well as an increasing recognition of how devices distract from life’s pleasures. But I have not yet seen a renewed interest in the man who had the audacity and the authority to say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
We want something we were made to want — finished work. But when a good thing becomes a God thing that’s a bad thing, idolatry. And it becomes clearer when you take that idol away.
For too many, a break doesn’t just stop all their work — it stops all their worship. We must develop the concept of doing good in doing nothing. For Christians this should be easy, as in our salvation that’s exactly what happens. Jesus saves us by his grace alone through our faith, an act of his doing so that none of us can boast (Eph. 2:1-9).
Trust in Jesus’ work and take a break from yours.
I have more to write on this subject. In a post later this week, I will unpack the distinctly Christian concept of taking a break — an essential part of the Christian life.