Get Busy!

(by Lorie Codispoti)

It’s time to get busy … resting!

Sounds like a contradiction of terms, doesn’t it? Well, to borrow a phrase from the infamous Inigo Montoya (Princess Bride), “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

BUSY VERSUS BUSYNESS

Before we can fully embrace what it means to rest, we must understand the difference between being busy (commendable work with purpose) and being caught up in busyness (a precursor to physical, emotional, and spiritual breakdown).

When I was raising my children, life was busy. Crazy busy. My days were filled with everything that goes along with nurturing and caring for young children. Most of the time I would reach the end of my day completely exhausted, yet I was also happily content. Every task had a purpose and I was fully engaged in the mission of mothering. However, on the days I neglected my need for rest, I would wolf into a miserable creature. By nightfall my perspective had skewed, and I found myself thinking life was nothing more than a monotonous cycle of repetitive tasks that had little to no value.

Busy and Busyness are incompatible adversaries. Busy reminds you that everything she does has a purpose; her goals are clear and attainable. She was designed with a rechargeable feature, known as rest, which you can access anytime, day or night. Busyness, on the other hand, is a thief. She’s not rechargeable and her goal is to sap your strength by convincing you that there is no time for rest. She will run you, helter-skelter, and transform you into a ravenous wolf who tears her house down.

SOMETIMES WE NEED A REMINDER

I am, by no means, a gardener, but I have experimented with growing and canning vegetables over the years (which is precisely why I buy them now). I remember being surprised by the need to recalibrate my pressure cooker. The temperature gauge has to be adjusted periodically in order for the cooker to work properly. The cooker has no way of knowing how vital this adjustment is, but the one using it does.

Jesus prioritized the need for rest when He commanded His disciples to “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31a). This directive reaches the ears of His disciples during a time when they are elated over the amazing fruit of their ministry, yet at the same time deeply grieving the loss of their friend, John the Baptist. 

Contemplate the emotional roller coaster they had to be riding. Then mix in the fact that the crowds kept coming. The needs were so many that Mark records the disciples “did not have time to eat” (vs.31b). They knew the importance of rest because it was modeled for them when the crowds pressed in for more of Jesus and they watched Him “withdraw to desolate places and pray” (Lk.5:16). Nevertheless, it took hearing “come away” from their Lord to convince these men of their need.

We need to stop glamorizing the destructive cycle of busyness and realize that rest is not only necessary, but it’s a mandate given by a Holy God who has prioritized knowing and loving Him over serving Him.

Now, don’t read that wrong. I’m not saying that you should walk away from service and sequester your life away, singing Kumbaya until Jesus comes. What I am saying is that our need for rest is a built-in feature designed for us to know God. And in order to do that we must step away from the pressures of life and allow His Spirit to recalibrate our hearts to Himself. And since kumbaya means “come by here,” go ahead and sing it ’til Jesus comes!

REST IN PEACE

We don’t have to wait until we die to rest in peace. However, we do have to find a way to shed the dead layers of this world’s influence if we want to enter into the kind of rest Christ offers His children. The beautiful thing is that God never requires us to shed the dead without blanketing us with words that layer renewal... “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn.6:63b).

Several years ago, my friend adopted a child whose issues with anxiety peaked during the night hours. The lack of sleep had negative effects on the entire family. Through prayer she felt led to investigate the therapeutic benefits of a weighted blanket. She decided to try it and found that it helped to calm her daughter’s restlessness. Before long the whole family was sleeping peacefully through the night.

Whether you are single, married, raising children, employed, volunteer, or all the above, the ministry God has called you to is both rewarding and exhausting. Refreshment happens when we take the time to blanket our minds with Truth.

The apostle Paul understood this principle when he appealed to the believers in Rome:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rms.12:1-2).

He identified their need for a transformed mind and warned them about being conformed to the world’s way of thinking.

Do you think the believers in Rome were busy? After all, they were the first generation of Christians raising up the next generation of Christians. I’m sure their mission of “going into all the world and making disciples” felt a bit overwhelming at times.

Paul was well acquainted with the weariness that comes with ministering to the needs of others, but instead of attempting to bolster their reserves with empty platitudes like, “Man up!” or "You've got this!" he calls for them to make a sacrifice.

Huh? “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing, Paul? We’re ‘giving it all we’ve got, and yet, you’re telling us we need to sacrifice?” I can hear the defensive tone in their collective response.

In his article, How Do We Find Spiritual Rest, author, J.D. Greear says, “… the gospel tells us that when following Jesus gets difficult, the answer is not to ‘work harder’ but to ‘rest better.’ Only by learning to rest in Jesus will we have the strength we need to thrive.”

Resting is a necessary sacrifice we all need to put into practice.

CRAVING MORE THAN FISH

If it takes 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to tell you that you’re full, how long do you think it takes for your soul to tell you that your life is full? What signals you to stop running and take the needed time to digest?

I love fish! It’s been a favorite since I was a little girl. My grandparents lived on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and every day my grandfather went fishing after work. Eating fresh fish with my grandmother’s cornbread and butter beans was like feasting at Heaven’s table.

Physically speaking, as we age, our metabolism slows down and we need less food than we did when we were younger. Spiritually speaking, however, I have found that as I mature I need to ingest more. As much as I enjoy fish, it doesn’t compare to the Bread of Life and my Savior’s living water. I long to hear His voice, like the disciples did that morning on the beach when He called for them to “Come and eat breakfast.” (John 20:12)

Even though Jesus had miraculously filled their empty nets with an abundance of fish, when they heard His voice, they dropped everything to be with Him. My guess is, that by now they had learned that Jesus could feed more souls with a few fish and some bread than they could with overflowing nets, and that His presents were no match for His presence.

Do you know who burns the candle at both ends? Busyness! She may burn bright for a moment, but her light is frenetic and unsustainable. I suggest you snuff her out and build a campfire next to Busy. She'll wrap you in a blanket of rest, feed you, and give you time to digest the life giving truth your soul needs.

If you can hear the One who created you with a need for rest calling, "Come away!" maybe it's time to get busy... resting!