Too Lazy To Rest

Gen 2:2: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

Outfit Deets: All Thrifted.

I have read so many articles on godly rest and the importance of rest and to be quite honest, I felt like I needed something new to learn about rest. I needed to see a new article that leads me biblically into knowing more about rest.

We know God made the earth and rested on the seventh day. We know He tells us to rest. But why don't we rest all the same?

As I was giving a word about rest to a group I work with, The Holy Spirit deposited some wisdom into my mind that I am super excited to share. That sometimes we do not rest because we are too lazy to rest.

Yes, lazy. We are too lazy to investigate the root of our unrest and as a result we keep succumbing to the same ailments over and over again.

Having been a victim of all of these, I am glad that they have been brought up for me to also work through them because let's face it, deliverance is not a one-time event. :)

1. "Gotta-Please-Them-All"

This group of people finds it really hard to rest from work mainly because they have everybody's load on their shoulder. Susan asked you to help her with her documents and you took up that task knowing full well you have little to no time to manage your own tasks. Michael called you into yet another departmental meeting to discuss something you already settled just so that he can get you to do his brain work. Debbie drops a chunk of paper work on you over and over again that she does not want to do because she wants to go off and relax (while you slave over her work).

Maybe it is not a malicious intent from others, but this group will always find a way of serving others at a fault. The root of this is the spirit of people-pleasing. Struggling to take care of everyone else so that you get into good books with them will harm your mind more than you can ever imagine. People-pleasing puts others on a pedestal, need I say, higher than God's.

It makes you focus on their verdict over your life (more than God's perspective over your matter). You will notice that no matter how good, soft-spoken or selfless you are, not everyone will appreciate you or your work. This is why you need to "...work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters..." (Col 3:23). This is because God sees everything you do, even when others do not. His verdict over your quality of work matters more than what your employers say, trust me. If you do it God's way, you will not have to worry about excellence because God is excellence (I think all bosses like that, including me).

Quick reminder: "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Gal 1:10)

2. The Procrastinator

This group fails to rest because they have been bunching up all the work for the very last minute. There is no rest prior, either, because they spend the earlier portion of the task worrying about when they will get to start the actual task!

When it gets to the doing, the work now seems insurmountable. They now have to go through crazy long hours just so that they beat a fast coming deadline. The root of this is the spirit of laziness.

Procrastination is funny to talk about and painful to experience. When you leave everything to the last minute you not only deny yourself rest, but you also decrease the chances of producing well-thought out and excellent work. You choke creative flow that would have come organically and seamlessly if it were given time to develop. You deny yourself the opportunity to enjoy the work you have been given to do. Now, maybe you procrastinate because you do not enjoy the work you do and this is a whole other discussion (hope for later?)

The results of procrastination are not enviable and should therefore not be a Christian's point of reference. Your greatest works are not produced at the tail end of a thought process. That is not your portion.

God has been dealing with me concerning this, so I know how it feels to get deliverance from this one in particular. It takes discipline and commitment. But there is hope! If you keep pressing on and improving at a rate of 1% daily, you will see results!

Consider this: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb 12:11) also, "Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth." (Prov 12:24)

3. The Anxious Wanderer

This group handles the task at hand with a mind full of worry and so though they work, their minds are not at rest. They see their tasks and feel the sweat drip already. The work seems challenging and if the work does not seem so, they fear messing it up. The root of this is the spirit of fear. Fear tells you false things like, "You will not do a great job", "You will fail", "You will let people down". These are all lies straight from Satan's kitchen in hell (Read John 8:44). These lies, unfortunately seep into our minds and hearts and bring into manifestation the same fear we do not want to see come to pass.

Thankfully we can dismantle the lies of the enemy with the word of Truth that is in the Bible. Worrier, hear this: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7). It does not stop there! "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" (Matt 6:25)

Before you sit and worry, tell your work-load that you serve a big God who "does all things well!" (Mark 7:37). You can certainly "do all things through Christ who strengthens you"! (Phil 4: 13)

4. The "Bigger-Than-God"

This group is the exact opposite of the former. They believe they can do all things and by that I mean, everything. They believe they can do it all without help. They are powerful, knowledgeable and strong and whatever you give them, they can and will do. So they do not believe in rest because it almost insults their machine-like demeanor. The root of this is the spirit of pride. (You will be surprised that subset 1 is also rooted in pride!)

This group will knowingly take up more than they can reasonably chew. Sometimes the aim is to prove a point(a trauma response) while some aim to beat their own productivity targets (again, trauma response). This means less time for recoiling, less time for recollecting and less time for reconnecting.

Believe it or not, when you take up everything in a bid to prove productivity, you not only deny yourself precious moments of your life, but you rob God of His title in your life. Only He can do EVERYTHING. You cannot be Him. Over-doing mimics God and God thinks that is pride and He thinks it is an abomination. I don't know about you, but the last thing I would want is God raising up His nose in disgust concerning my attitude.

When your posture is set to prove points and show you are greater-than-great, God lets you to it. You morph into a Nebuchadnezzar and He sets you straight. (Prov 16:18) "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Sounds deep because it is :D

I will end this writing here because I can go on and on (especially on pride) but I will say this to you:

Rest is Holy. Rest is not a suggestion, it is a command. Rest does more for your health than over-working ever does. If God rested, so can you. Don't be too lazy to rest.

Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit."