Is Rest Just Wasting Time?

What if resting was the most vital part of your week?

No, not mindlessly thumbing through social media on your phone or whatever else you do to tune out your responsibilities. I mean intentionally giving yourself permission to rest or play. Some of us need permission to enjoy what is known as a Sabbath day.

“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:3‬ ‬‬

As Christians we believe in the God of the Sabbath, making rest God’s idea in the first place. This means we can trust Him when He commands us to take time out to rest. We can trust Him enough to get off the treadmill of life and pause long enough to get some perspective on our place in His creation. This includes remembering that it’s not all up to us. We need to let go of the need to hustle.

In her book Rhythms of Rest (2016), Shelly Miller talks about how a ‘plethora of studies show that the brain requires an alternating period of structured work followed by unstructured rest in order to maximise function.’ Instead of living at the crazy 24/7 level of busyness on the treadmill of life, we need to either step off or press pause on our efforts if we want to be effective long term. As Shelly says, the Sabbath – borrowed from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means ‘to cease’- is ‘the exhale required after six days of inhaling our work.’ Taking one day a week to rest- a Sabbath- could just be the most productive thing you could do this week.

What Does Rest Look Like for you?

Some religious traditions have built frameworks of ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ when it comes to rest. Mostly, these rules end up making rest another box we have to tick instead of the gift that it was intended to be. It really does come down to attitude and intention, and giving yourself permission to ignore the to-do list and inbox. Rest is an act of trust, as well as an act of self-care. This is offset by the promise of increased productivity when you start work again.

Rest might look like:

Going for a run
Reading a book
Taking a long bath
Taking a nap
Sitting outside in the sun with a cup of tea
Poke around with green growing things in the garden
Cook something from scratch
Doing a puzzle or craft

When Did You Last Play?

The National Institute of Play, is a not-for-profit orgaisation dedicated to advancing society’s understanding and application of play. Most adults believe that play is just for kids, and isn’t a productive use of adult time. But the opposite is true. Research has shown that play is very productive for adults and is good for our brains and emotional health.

By play, we mean genuinely finding pleasure in the pursuit of something without turning it into an exercise of production or outcome. How about a bike ride for the sheer fun of it, without looking at your smartwatch to check if you’ve reached youre exercise goals. Or taking a photo of a loved one purely for the fun of making them smile and creating a memory. How can we give ourselves permission this week to play for the sheer joy of it? Try being a little child-like (not childish) and open your mind wide enough to see how the huge presence of the impossible can fit inside. Rediscover the wild joy of wonder!

Being the unique humans that we are, what is one’s persons play is another person’s work. Ecclesiastes 3 talks about finding satisfaction in our toil and that it is one of God’s gifts to us.

“12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

Not all play means being still. Peter Gray from the National Institute of Play says it has to do with motivation and mental attitude and not so much our actual behaviour. If you find an activity that engages you and you feel free and joyful, you might just be playing!

For me, it is releasing the breath that I have subconsciously held all week. What if ignoring the laundry and dishes in the sink for one day, and lying on my back looking up at the clouds is the most restorative, refreshing thing I can do? Will you join me this week and enjoy a Sabbath rest and play?