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  • Writer's picturePhillip Raimo

The God-given rhythm of work and rest

May God teach us how to build our lives according to God’s own rhythm of work and rest.




Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.

Again and again our culture prizes, not just hard work, but long hours of work. If you’re the first person in the office in the morning and the last person to leave, you get to wear the badge of courage and feel superior to your slothful colleagues. We are meant to work hard. But we are also meant to rest regularly and intentionally. Working hard is one thing; working too much is another. May God teach us how to build our lives according to God’s own rhythm of work and rest.


If we use the gifts and strengths God has given us energetically, God is pleased, and we may be as well. Most of us have experienced the sense of satisfaction that comes when we work hard for a worthy purpose, whether or not it is part of our paid work. For example, when I spend several hours writing these devotions, I can feel mentally and emotionally fatigued. But I also feel content in the knowledge that I have used my gifts and strengths to serve both God and people.


A recent article in The Atlantic proclaims, “Workism is Making Americans Miserable.” Its subtitle reads, “For the college-educated elite, work has morphed into a religious identity—promising transcendence and community, but failing to deliver.” Those who practice workism, among other things, work excessively, with little time for rest or restoration.


The reality of workism shows up in another recent piece in the New York Times:Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?” Erin Griffith, the article’s millennial author, claims: “I saw the greatest minds of my generation log 18-hour days — and then boast about #hustle on Instagram. When did performative workaholism become a lifestyle?”


Technology can help us work more effectively and efficiently, but it also promotes unhealthy workaholism. Electricity allows us to work long after the sun goes down. Digital devices invite work into our homes, churches, and family dinners. Millions upon millions of people check their email while they’re in bed, often as the last thing they do before sleep, which has a strongly negative impact on the quality of their sleep. Talk about work invading our personal lives!

Yet, I’m not sure I would want to describe this lamentable situation as a matter of working too hard. Rather, it seems to be more a problem of working too much. Many of us simply don’t know how to stop working. We don’t have boundaries to keep us from working all the time. The fact that God rested a whole day after working six days and then instructed us to do the same hasn’t made a difference in our lives. The fact that Jesus escaped from his work to retreat into the wilderness in order to be alone for rest and prayer doesn’t seem to commend our imitation. Rather we have chosen to worship the idol, not of hard work, but of endless work.


I could say a lot more about when and why it might be wrong to work too hard. For me, sometimes my hard work reflects a lack of trust in God rather than an offering of myself to him. Yet, I am convinced that many of us need to learn not to work less hard but rather to work fewer hours. We need to discover the God-given rhythm of work and rest (see Exodus 20:8-11). By God’s grace, may we learn to work hard and to rest regularly, just like God intended from the beginning.



https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/business/against-hustle-culture-rise-and-grind-tgim.html



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