Stop Rushing Everything in Business – Part 5: Finding Rest Throughout Your Business Day
Updated: Jan 28, 2021
Am I the only one that finds it extremely difficult to not work on Sundays?
Like Chick-fil-A, I’d love to be 100% closed on Sunday, but I can’t shut my mind off from thinking about my business. Some Sundays I’m able to keep my laptop shut, but I still can’t resist opening my phone to check an email or write an idea down.
One Sunday, I woke up with all the intentions to NOT do a lick of work. I went to church, then lunch with the family. But when I got home, nothing was going on, and it was hard for me to sit there, so I decided to catch up on some work.
The way I see it, there’s so much responsibility on my shoulders that taking a day off seems counter-intuitive to catching up on everything that’s still on my to-do list.
But I know that God wants me to take a day of Sabbath, where I completely disconnect from my business to rest and worship Him. I understand that I’m supposed to do this once a week. Still, as an entrepreneur, it’s been a challenging habit to implement into my business life.
We’re all busy entrepreneurs. There are marketing plans to finalize, new employees, to train, and client work to make progress on. But with the hurry and rush of everyone’s demands, what time is there to take a break and literally do nothing to rest in the Lord?
How can we honor the Sabbath as a weekly personal development tool and a way of business life?
The bible says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
Jesus is appealing to all the burned out, exhausted, and fatigued, and simply says, “Come, find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
However, the imagery of a ‘yoke’ seems like MORE WORK! On the one hand, Jesus is offering rest, but at the same time, throwing on 200 pounds of wood to carry.
But Jesus, in his incredible wisdom, people are all carrying a load on their backs already, he’s just offering a lighter load than the one the world offers. Running a business is already a 500-pound load, and Jesus wants to cut down the weight significantly.
As a follower of Christ running a business, you’re invited to a business life of rest, not just physically, but on a more profound “soul” level. You’re going to have the same burdens as everyone, Christian or not. Business ownership comes with heavy responsibility, and Jesus wants to offer a lighter, more pleasant experience to carrying it.
Business ownership is like signing up for burden after burden. There’s no way around the weight of responsibility of entrepreneurship. We can’t escape the pressure, but we can trade it in for a more comfortable, more joyful experience.
Godpreneurship is a way to carry the weight of business life with a straight back and smile on our faces.
How do we trade in a heavy yoke for a light yoke?
You guessed it – by practicing the Sabbath more.
We need to decide that for 24-hours, one day week, we’re going to practice restful worship so we can fill up on a spirit of restfulness to use throughout the next week.
There’s also a daily practice we can implement.
For me, I have an alarm on my phone at noon to stop everything I’m doing to “rest” in God. It’s a way to shut my mind down for 30 seconds, 2 minutes, or however long I need to recognize God, thank Him, and rest to take on the next half of my day.
Whether we take a moment to rest at noon, 2pm, or 5pm, there are Sabbath moments all through each business day we can take to help prepare us for the 24-hour sabbath marathon needed on one of the weekend days.
Imagine if we Godpreneurs all took the opportunity to slow down, and rest under Jesus’ easy yoke. How much better of a leader would we be if we could un-rush to our business life’s demands to experience the life that’s waiting for all of us in Christ.
Let’s look for little Sabbath moments when we wake up, on our drive to the office, before a big client meeting, etc.
And when the weekend comes, let’s resist the urge to reach for our phones. Instead, let’s reach for God and settle into his rest.
How is the tiredness of entrepreneurship affecting your experience of Jesus’ kingdom?
How can you move toward Sabbath as both a weekly practice at your office and a way of weekend life?