People work hard in the US, and really, really hard where I am in Silicon Valley.  They work too much!  I’ve been there, and I’ve fought against it for many years, but the culture here really is “work is above all else.”  Many people at my former job, me included, ate lunch while working, and consistently worked excessively long hours.  The majority didn’t take vacation time either, but “donated” those hours back to their employer.  How sad!    Now that I’m not working, my inclination is to not work at all, but to rest and let God take care of me.  This, of course, will only work for a short while.  God doesn’t want me to be lazy either.  Both extremes are wrong.

Mark 6:31-32

³¹ Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.  ³² So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.

There are times when God wants us to rest and be alone.  It is healthy to do so.  God gave us the Sabbath so we can rest in Him, and it has the added benefit of recharging our own batteries as well, if we actually rest!  A recent study has also concluded that multiple, two-week-plus vacations during the year, without any ties to work, are necessary to maintain a healthy mind.  The Europeans have this one right: most get six weeks off per year (and have more holidays than we do in the US), and many will take the entire month of August off.  In the US, most only get two weeks of vacation per year – and then they don’t take it!

Overwork, and lack of vacation will make us tired, but it will also makes us less stable.  Our priorities will get out of whack!  Wayne Muller writes this (and it sure resonates with me – until recently, I was there!):  “Because we don’t rest, we lose our way.  Poisoned by the belief that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort… for want of rest our lives are in danger.  There are two kinds of “tired.”  The dissimilarity is like the difference between puffy spring rain clouds and those that precede a tornado.  One is temporary and the other is a chronic inner fatigue that accumulates over months and doesn’t always manifest itself in physical exhaustion.  In fact, it’s masked by frenetic activity and compulsive behavior: (a) you can’t relax over a meal or coffee. (b) You keep checking and rechecking your messages and emails. (c) Your nightstand’s piled high with periodicals designed to keep you “ahead of the game.” (d) Taking a day off seems impossible. (e) You don’t take breaks or vacations and you work every holiday. (f) You can’t sleep. (g) Any free time you have is spent in “escapist behavior” like eating, drinking, spending money, or watching TV.

But while you’re busy working hard and looking important, you can lose your ability to hear the voice of the One Who called you to the position initially.  Sure God expects you to work hard, but not by endangering your health, your family or your time with Him.”

God wants us to work hard when working, but also to rest and enjoy life.  There is a balance.  He has also established the priorities we are to follow: God first, spouse second, all else third.  Work is in that third category, not the first category.  Get it right.

Colossians 3:23-24

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.