I Know My Calling, But I’m Stuck: Part 5 – Rest to Run Farther
Updated: Jan 19, 2021
I’ve been doing CrossFit since 2010. Beyond the physical pain, I’ve also grown in my mindset through the workouts. Lessons like discipline, competition, finishing strong, pacing, focusing, dieting, and more!
One skill that I’ve seen serve me well time and time again is RESTING while in the middle of a workout. I’m not talking about a long rest, so the clock expires. I’m talking about short rest to regroup, reset, take a breather, get back up, and hit it hard again.
If I go, go, go, then I’m going to burn out and not be able to finish. But when I rest for a moment and take in a deep breath, I can see clearly and attack the workout once again.
In our businesses, especially while we’re launching our new idea, we could start out enthusiastically with a lot of fire and energy. The momentum begins to build as excitement for calling being released to the world builds.
But if we’re not careful to rest, fatigue could get creep into the mind, and we stop seeing straight. We begin to make the wrong decisions because we don’t have enough oxygen (holy spirit) running through our bodies. We start to tap into our own strength (never a good idea) instead of staying hooking on God’s GPS.
The enemy of “business” can disguise himself as productivity, and before you know it, we’ve exhausted ourselves, our vendors, and our team.
But God’s word should give us hope that rest is actually something we need to discipline ourselves to do.
In Psalms, King David writes:
"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name". (Psalms 23:1-3 NLT)
When you’re a sheepherder, you purposefully stop your flock and go by one by one and make sure they sit down. Some go down without a fight, others are stubborn and still, want to run around. They eventually rest because of the good shepherd that cares for their long-term health and knows there’s a long journey ahead.
You need to take a day of the week (Sundays?) and close up shop. Physically and mentally, we need to sit down and rest. I love Chick-fil-A because that’s the exact reason they close on Sundays. For 6 days they place is a madhouse. On the 7th day, they all rest.
The Bible says:
"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord , will keep me safe". (Psalms 4:8 NLT)
Maybe you’ve never experienced true “rest.” Maybe you’re reading this and thinking “are you kidding me, I can’t turn my brain off.” Trust me, I go through it too.
Jesus says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NLT). You need more rest, but don’t focus on that, focus on the reality that you need more Jesus.
God wants us Godpreneurs to rest. When we rest, it allows us to replenish our physical, mental, and emotional strength that keeps us fighting the battle of bringing our callings in business to life. Just as a good mother cares for their kids and makes them take a nap, God cares for us business owners. He knows the journey that lies ahead for us and the holy spirit with nudging us when it’s time to rest for a moment. Taking a rest break from “launch mode” doesn’t mean we are losing ground; it just means we are getting prepared for the journey ahead into greater things for our businesses.