In October 2009 we have had some friends living with us who have just returned from teaching english in South Korea. In our discussions about the differences between Korean and Canadian culture I was especially interested to learn that in general, Korean culture is considerably busier and faster paced than Canadian culture. Apparently it was quite shocking for many Koreans to learn that westerners sleep 7-8 hours a night! This stood out to me because I feel that our Canadian culture is quite fast paced virtually all the time.
In the last few days I have been reflecting on Richard Foster’s writings about ‘The Prayer of Rest’. He discusses the intersection of ’sabbath’ with ‘prayer’. One quote in particular about the concept of sabbath has stood out to me: “it (sabbath) has a way of tempering our gnawing need to always get ahead.”
Can you relate to that? The drive to accomplish more, check off more items from the daily mental ‘to-do’ list, constantly think about what task or project needs to be tackled next. One day rushes into the next and the weeks begin to fall into each other; one moment it’s thanksgiving and the next it’s Christmas!
In long distance running training, rest is essential! Many a runner has experienced the thrill of running and decided to forgo rest in order to get in additional workouts, only to find themselves suffering any number of painful injuries. (such a thing never happened to me!!)
Many of us have heard about the importance of sabbath rest: God created for six days and on the seventh He rested. All well and good, but how does this fit into the real life of New Testament Christians? Perhaps you think ‘rest would be wonderful’ but it’s not likely to happen!
The problem is that we are not designed to exist without regular periods of rest; both physical rest and spiritual rest. If we neglect to rest it will catch up to us and in the long term will prove very detrimental to our lives.
Obviously there is a great deal more to say about the topic of rest, but let me offer a specific challenge:
Begin to practice solitude. Yes, solitude. Can’t find the time? Yes you can: Here some practical steps toward solitude:
- Choose to turn off the TV or computer for short periods of time. Start with 30 minutes. I say 30 minutes because at first is will take you 30 minutes to actually get 15 minutes of real solitude!
- Find a room where you can be alone. Don’t give up; even the bathroom can work!
- Once you are there, what should you do? Nothing! Be quiet and simply invite God to help you and trust that He will. Your mind may race here, there and everywhere, but don’t worry about that; keep asking for His help. God is a very good leader!
- Decide when you will next schedule some time for solitude.
Here’s the key: we need to take times of rest regularly! We won’t notice much difference in our lives if we only practice solitude once or twice. It needs to become a practice that we choose on a regular basis.
In case you are not yet convinced of the need for periods of rest and solitude, I will leave you with another statement from Richard Foster about this spiritual practice:
This does not promote inactivity, but it does promote dependent activity.
Amen! We all need more of that!
