Do you live with a constant feeling that you aren’t doing enough? Yeah, me too. I’ve been thinking about this lately, and I’ve decided that I need to repent. Why? Because God gave me these limits.

Think about it. Humans have limits. For example, we just can’t keep going without sleep. Of course, we can occasionally pull an all-nighter, but before long we hit a wall and we crash. We have limits.

God is not surprised that we can’t get more done in a day. He created us with these limits and then “looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31 NLT).

So, God sees our limitations and says it’s very good?! I’ve been meditating on this, because (if I’m honest) I don’t look at my limits as being good! I’m often strategizing on how to expand my limits and measuring my life based on how much I get done. What if I’m looking at it all wrong?

After creating mankind, God himself rested and then commanded that we also rest from our work. He knows that we are tempted to keep working and trying to do more and he places a limit saying we should take a day off and enjoy a sabbath from your work! Jesus talked about this saying, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people…” (Mark 2:27). In other words, we need that time of rest!

This feels very unproductive. Yet this is what we need to grow.

Many of us wish we could exercise more. Did you know that if you exercise every day, you can actually hurt yourself? Many experts say that it’s best to take days of rest in-between days of exercise. Why? Because you grow when you are resting.

Let that sink in. On the day after working out, when you feel like you aren’t getting anything done, that’s when you are building strength and muscle. Here’s the thing—life is like that too. We are designed to work and then rest. Just like exercising, there’s a rhythm alternating between intensity and restoration, work and sabbath.

One of the best examples of this is Jesus. He is our example of a man who lived life to the full and accomplished his mission. He knew when it was time to rest.

Do you ever feel like you’ve done enough? This should be an indicator that we may need to think differently. Throughout Jesus’ ministry we see him moving from intense times of teaching and healing the sick, to other times when we “withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (Luke 5:16). Don’t miss this. Jesus took time to rest and pray—often!

Perhaps you need to hear this today. Our world tends to reward us for doing stuff, and there’s always more to do. It’s so easy to think that if we just get more done, life will be better. But that’s a trap! It’s a lie! Instead, what if the key to getting more done is to stop doing so much?

From Peter's Blog: https://peterbales.substack.com.