October 15, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
Rest stops
___By Berry D. Simpson
___Driving along I-20 to Dallas recently, Cyndi and I passed several rest stops with large highway signs telling us this was the place to stop. They said "Rest Stop"—very unambiguous and easy to understand.
___However, since they weren’t mandatory, the vast majority of drivers blew right past without even thinking about stopping. We did, too. We didn’t need to stop and rest, we had plenty of energy. What we were short was time and patience, so we didn’t stop to rest.
___Just like the highway department, God wants us to rest along the way. Psalm 139:3 says, "You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest."
BERRY D. SIMPSON
___But like highway drivers, we seldom stop. We pass up those rest moments God has planned for us because we are too busy to stop. We have too much to do, too many places to go, too many people to help, too many ministries to tend, too many God-given projects to keep spinning.
___Surely if God knew how busy we are he wouldn’t expect us to stop and rest, right?
___What’s the big deal? Does God expect me to stop at every highway rest stop? No, and neither does the Texas Department of Transportation. The reason they have so many is not because they want us to stop at everyone, but because different drivers get tired at different times, and TXDot officials want to have a place available for whenever rest stops are needed.
___God doesn’t expect me to stop my car at every rest stop, and in our case I’m sure he wanted us to keep moving quickly so we could make our Friday night appointment in Dallas.
___But I do believe, that in the big picture, God expects us to stop and rest more often than we do. We overestimate our effectiveness by not following God’s desire for us to stop and rest.
___For me, my most consistent rest stop is Sunday afternoon when I take a nap. Through the years, I have learned that I am better and smarter and more creative all week long if I have a nap on Sunday afternoon. I can still function if I miss my nap, but I will pay the price in reduced effectiveness all week. I either get my weekly rest in all at once in one nap, or I get it in all week long from diminished performance on each project.
___If "stopping to rest" is God’s idea, does that mean my relationship with God will suffer if I don’t take Sunday afternoon naps? It’s hard to say about something so specific. But if I’m skipping those naps because of my own importance, (like nothing will get done if I don’t do it and the world will grind to a halt if I don’t push every minute), if my world revolves around me instead of around God, I am definitely damaging my relationship with him. I need those regular rest stops to remind me that God is in control.
___(I realize that with regard to nap taking, some might quote Proverbs 6:9-10: "How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and your poverty will come in like a vagabond, and your need like an armed man." My point is, naps or no naps, we don’t really skip rest; we merely postpone it. Sooner or later, it will catch up, either from lost effectiveness or physical collapse. Sunday naps might not work for everyone, but God expects everyone to rest.)
___Last year, Cyndi and I took a spiritual rest break—a weekend together at a retreat center in San Angelo. We spent the time in silence and fasting and relaxing and listening to God. It was one of the most amazing experiences of our marriage. I believe it was one of those rest stops God charted on our path, and because we listened to him and obeyed him, our lives are richer and our ears are more firmly tuned toward him.
___Philip Yancey writes, "Mahatma Gandhi, leader of half a billion people, refused to compromise his principle of observing every Monday as a day of silence—even in the heat of negotiations over India’s independence from Britain. He believed failure to honor that day of spiritual nourishment would make him less effective throughout the other six days. I wonder how much more effective our spiritual leaders would be if we encouraged them to take one day a week as a time of silence for reflection, meditation and personal study. I wonder how much more effective we would be if we made spiritual health—not efficiency—our No. 1 priority."
___Resting for the purpose of spiritual (and physical) renewal is not a trivial matter. God considers it important enough that he charts the path of our lives to include rest stops. We should listen to him.
___Berry Simpson, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland.
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