There are so many agricultural concepts in the Bible that can apply to life.  Letting a field go fallow means to leave it unsown for a period of time so that its fertility can be restored.  The Israelites were to do this with their fields every seven years.  Of course, they were also to keep a Sabbath day of rest every seventh day.  What about my life?  Am I so bent towards productivity that I see no value in rest?

Am I even able to rest?

I feel pulled in many different directions and have a lot of different goals and desires.  It’s hard to turn that off for just a few hours or even a day.  Sometimes I can’t sleep because I have all these thoughts and ideas running through my brain.  And when I’m not trying to sleep, I feel an inner pressure to produce and accomplish.  Why is that?

Maybe it’s related to control.  If I rest; if I take time off from something then I no longer have as much control.

But I want that control.  I want to know that people depend on me and need me.  I like feeling indispensable in some ways.  And there’s the problem.  There’s the lie.

I am not indispensable.

So how do I go about implementing this concept?  Is it possible for a mom of three to even get some time alone?  I used to try to wake up at 5am and spend time with the Lord.  Now when I wake up at 5am I go run and the alone time is really hard to come by.

I think it’s definitely time to incorporate some disciplined time of rest.

I came across this from Tim Keller the other day —-

“Anyone who cannot rest from work is a slave—to a need for success, to a materialistic culture, to exploitative employers, to parental expectations, or to all of the above. These slave masters will abuse you if you are not disciplined in the practice of Sabbath rest.

Sabbath is a declaration of freedom.”  Tim Keller