18Nov16

Genesis 2:2
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

When I moved to Missouri to go to Seminary at the Assembly of God Theological Seminary I took a job as an associate pastor at Grace Chapel. I also worked full time as the general manager of the Red Robin. I worked from 0500-2300 most days and when I wasn't working that schedule it was only so that I could go to night school for 4 hours on Tuesday and Thursday. I would squeeze in study time wherever I could and then would spend all day Sunday at the church trying frantically to keep up and feel useful to them. Needless to say... I had no time. I was a father of three that never saw my family. I actually feel like (even with deployments) I spend more time with my family now than I did then. I had no friends outside of work. I barely recall anything from that two years outside of work, school, and work. I thought I was better than God. Yup, that's what being a work-a-holic ultimately boils down to. I thought I could handle it all, and from the outside I was. But, the quality of my life, the purpose for which I was made, the areas where my legacy are created, all suffered for my ambition. They all floundered in the overbooked spaces of my life because I thought I could do better than God did and continue to work every single day, every single, hour, every single second. I sacrificed so much at the altar of ambition because I refused to rest, because I had to be the best, and I thought I knew better than God. Even today I struggle with time management and forcing rest into my schedule... there's just so much to do! But, when you set a task and that task is done... rest. We were designed for it. God modeled it. Do it. Find time today... force yourself to rest. Say no to something that wants your time and take it back.