To Accomplish More And Better You Have To Do Less
Our lesson opens with this puzzling story,
A bright, young medical student at Loma Linda found himself burning out. Getting up at four in the morning, working until midnight, he struggled to keep up with his strenuous curriculum, but to no avail. He fell farther and farther behind.
"In desperation he went to his professor for help. Being an astute man, the professor recommended that Tom get at least seven hours of sleep each night, no matter what, and thirty minutes of vigorous exercise everyday. Tom was incredulous, . . . but at last he reluctantly agreed to give this program a try. After all he was so far down he had nothing to lose. To his utter amazement his grades began to improve within just two weeks. By the end of the year he was in the upper third of his class and in due time successfully completed his medical training."—"I'm So Tired," Hardinge Lifestyle Series (Loma Linda, Calif. Loma Linda University School of Health, 1988), pp. 3-5.
There seems to be a paradox: to accomplish more and better you need to do less. Yet, our world frowns on rest. It is seen as weakness and laziness. Doing more is celebrated. People brag and complain about how much they do and how little they rest. But, soon enough they run out of energy and are forced to stop to "catch a breath," refresh, restore, or reinvigorate. Sometimes, they are forced to do it in very distressful conditions – disease, recovering from accidents, depression, etc. Had they included rest as part of their routine the severity of their forced rest may had been avoided.
Our memory verse seems to tell us that Jesus was instructing His disciples to do less and rest, "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest' " (Mark 6:31, NIV). He made sure the disciples paced themselves so they could continue to work after. Any person chopping down a tree would know to sharpen the saw or axe. The more you chop the duller the saw or axe gets, and the less effective it becomes. Stopping for a few minutes could actually improve and haste the job at hand. Even car racers do pit stops every few laps. Christ stopped the disciples so they could replenish themselves. In order to give you need to have. Christ would not allow for the disciples to be overspent.
Christ himself took time to rest. In Mark 4:38 we read that he was asleep while the disciples fought for their lives against the storm. A large part of Jesus process of restoration was through prayer, we read in Mark 6:45 – 46 after, "…He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray." Sometimes He spent all night praying. We read in Luke 6:12, "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
While many may consider it wasting time, Christ rested and He encouraged His disciples to do that. Christ used His time wisely. He followed the Father's will. Christ yielded completely to the Father. He repeatedly said that he only did and said the Father's will. Christ is quoted in John 5:30 saying,
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
All Christ did was the Father's will. This would include the hours spent resting, sleeping, and praying. We could argue that while others ignore or consider rest and prayer time and effort wasted, all else Christ did was possible because of the time He spent resting and praying. If it was important for the Father that His Son did it, then it must be important to Him that we do also.
--
Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com
