We Were Never Meant to Work Seven Days a Week

I have been a pastor since 1996 and for a large percentage of this time I only took off one day a week. And quite often, I wouldn’t even take one day off because of circumstances.

Now, on the weeks that I actually took a day off I would usually have to get everything done that I wasn’t able to get down the rest of the week (i.e. jobs around the house, cleaning the house, shopping, taking care of the bills and budget, etc.)

Basically, one week just flowed into the next without any real break – without any real rest. It was no wonder that I was always tired!

When I went on my medical leave in May of 2007 I was forced to stop. I was forced to rest. I was off for 2.5 months. I had never been off for 2.5 months straight in my life before (except when I was a toddler). It was very radical for me!

During that time off I learned the value of rest and stopping. Also, during that time off I learned that I was “allowed” to take time off. I learned it was okay to take care of myself. I had gone many years of believing the lie that I needed to be working all the time because there were so many needs to be met.

Read Kevin Martineau’s entire article over at Shooting the Breeze.

Post by Newsletter Editor David Rupert. Image credits to be found in the accompanying gallery.