From the Pastor's Desk - July

There is always something more to do. Always another dirty sock to be washed, always another phone call to make, always another email to send, always someone more to pray for, always another thing that could be done and maybe should be done that won’t get done because we just can’t.

I used to try to get it all done and then feel guilty when I couldn’t. I thought I was supposed to be able to do it all.

I’m not sure when my perspective changed, but I know that it had to do with God. Now I see that we aren’t built to do everything. I can’t move most couches by myself, hard as I might try. I can’t work 80 hours a week and be a good wife and mom. Honestly, if I’m working 80 hours in a week, I can’t be a good pastor or human being, either. God has built into each of us, including me, the need for rest.

We need to spend time doing nothing. We need to spend time enjoying the world God has made, instead of trying to shape it or shape ourselves.

“Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest,” writes Pastor Mark Buchanan in his book The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God. He’s got a point. When we don’t rest, we don’t have the clarity to see ourselves or other people as we are. When we’re busy, we can miss out entirely on the small joys of life and the people around us. When we take time off from being productive, we can enjoy the arts and the beauty of the world around us.

More than that, taking time to do nothing reminds us that the world keeps on spinning without our help. God is the one who makes the world go around. We have our jobs to be done, but ultimately, our rest is our trust that we don’t have to be in charge of everything. When we rest, we let God be God.

So go ahead and squish some sand between your toes or read another chapter of your book. Take a walk or call a friend. Notice the striped leaves of a plant or read a chapter of your Bible. Take a breath and rest. It’s part of God’s plan for your life, as surely as work and service are.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful July,

Pastor Emily