Can you say it again? How can rest help me get things done? This is the day to serve his quad gas with Anthony Angina. Okay, quick answer.
By sustainable energy for long-term productivity. Parnagtatagal. An la casdanangagalingsalob. Para magawatmo antaman trabajo.
A pandemic habit for busy work from home professionals, that I've heard, has helped many, many young men and women today. All the ones too. Take a private personal stroll, alone inside the house or outside the house if you're allowed, just for a few minutes between work or professional and family or relational commitments. Okay?
I'll say that again. It's got to be a personal time alone, which is separate from work, professional or family relational. That break for personal will allow you to pour in some energy at this time of rest so you can pour out the professional and relational. It's a key to not just surviving but thriving.
There is a story about two wagons, horse-drawn, many, many years ago, obviously, traveling. From St. Louis in the US to Oregon. It was a Christian community, two wagons, okay, from St.
Louis to Oregon. And then they had a debate about Sabbath. And one said, we will not make it to Oregon in winter if we keep on celebrating the Sabbath. So they said, can we not just have an extended celebration when we get to our venue?
The other one was more insistent that they will not give up on this particular command. This routine, this commitment, well, they decided to split the wagons. One traveling seven days and the other one six days with one day of Sabbath rest. And the question is, who arrived first?
The one taking a Sabbath day of rest. I believe it's because God bless them, but on a practical level, it's because the horses were rested, right, and more refreshed. And so they were able to travel more efficiently during the six days, much more than the others, all seven days. They arrived rested compared to the others, not only late but exhausted.
Rest time is not waste time from Charles Spurgeon. It is economy to gather fresh strength. It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less.
One more thought, and I have to share this, never keep compromise or unnecessary burdens or sin, if you can call it that, nurtured in our hearts. In Psalm 32, verse three, it talks about how God's hand was heavy upon the person who was not letting go of conscious compromises or sins in his or her life. If you're not a Christian, you can replace sin for, let's say, unforgiveness. It's the same thing.
It's something that burdens you unnecessarily, something that wastes you down, that adds load, when in fact only you are choosing to carry it. For me, one of the most powerful illustrations of rest and peace and tranquility, a victory that's put it that way, in the most difficult time, is how Jesus responded while already hanging on a cross in Luke 23, looking at his killers, who he could wipe out, by the way, he could have wiped out with an order to any one of his angels nearby. He instead pleaded to God, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, to rise above that, that is a centering like no other, that is rest, that escapes so many, that is stability, reliability, that is strength. You want to get things done, intentionally build rest into your agenda, and see your output and joy grow.
I'll cure up, Ross, as important as it is to have a plan for doing work, it is perhaps more important to have a plan for rest, relaxation, self-care, and sleep.