God’s Plan for Work-Life Balance

In our culture, busyness, “the hustle,” and even workaholism are often celebrated. When we get together with friends at the end of a long day or week, much of the conversation is often centered around how tired we are and how much we have to do. Sometimes, the obligations we have don’t seem optional, and, indeed, many of them can’t be skipped out on. Picking up our kids from school every day for instance really isn’t something we can miss. But looking back on many busy seasons of my life, I recognize that many of the things that wore me out didn’t have to be in my life. Perhaps as I have done in the past, you have idolized staying busy or working all the time without even knowing it. Just as many individuals don’t realize when they start spinning their wheels for the sake of it and not really accomplishing God’s will for their lives, most don’t know that this lifestyle isn’t biblical. 

Scripture tells us to not “weary yourself to gain wealth. Cease from your consideration of it.” (Proverbs 23:4, NASB). Multiple verses caution us to take our rest seriously and to utilize the Sabbath God made for refreshment. Even Jesus realized the importance of rest; when He famously took a nap on a boat while sailing with His disciples, important things were happening up on the deck as the crew struggled to combat the stormy waves. I think there are a lot of lessons to be gleaned from this story, but one that sticks out to me is how Jesus showed that just because something is going on or there is something to do does not mean that we have to jump right into the middle of it every time. 

Science agrees with this, as studies show that when we don’t get plenty of rest or time for our family and ourselves, we become far less effective in our work. This goes against the grain of workaholism culture, where some people think that hours punched in equals productivity put out. But if we aren’t following God’s command to rest physically and rest spiritually in Him, it’s hard to be fruitful in fulfilling the callings He has placed on our lives. 

The most important thing to remember when examining our work-life balance is to place our identity in Christ first. Without knowing it, many of us are quick to place our identity in our career, our salary, getting “things” done, or even our schedule and the sheer busyness of it. We must ask ourselves, would we be content and secure if all of that were to be stripped away? If something happened to our careers, and we were forced to take a minimum wage job or could only find something part-time, would we still know how to be joyful? Would we run out of conversation pieces because we’re used to preaching more about work than what God is doing in our lives? The wonderful thing about walking with the Lord is that His grace and mercy are abundant. He will help us in the process of making our lives look more like He intended. I’m grateful to serve a good God who not only values my rest but is willing to refine me in the process of making me more like Him. 

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