By any account it was a tough day at the office for Elijah (1 Kings 18). First there was the day-long show-down with the prophets of Baal. Interesting odds – 1:850.
Then there was the waiting for God to come through, to burn up the drenched bull. God came through and that led to the slaughter of the false prophets. So much blood.
But the day was not over. There was to be the encounter with Ahab. And the prophecy of rain when there was no rain cloud in sight. The rain came and Elijah had to outrun Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel. Like I said, a hard day at the office. A couple of lifetimes’ drama squeezed into 12 hours.
Since Elijah was a man just like us (James 5:17), he was tired. Very tired. And it showed. 1 Kings 19 records classical symptoms of fatigue and burnout:
- Fear (v.3).
- Depression (v.4).
- Isolation (v.10).
- Loss of faith.
What was God’s reaction to His tired servant? Did He ask Elijah to pray more? Fast? No. Essentially, God’s prescription for His exhausted servant was a regime of sleeping and eating (1 Kings 19: 5-8). Later, God would give Elijah a reality check and fresh instructions. But God’s first response was to let a tired man sleep.
I have preached on this passage often. Mainly because I have gone down the Elijah road often. But also because I see fatigue endemic in modern society. Ask about anyone you know how he or she feels and you know what his or hers answer will be. For a time we fool ourselves that we are just going through a particularly demanding week, and that next week will be better. Soon we come to accept that constant fatigue is part of life in the new millennium.
It would appear that the very machines that were supposed to aid us and improve the quality of our lives are the very things driving us deeper and deeper into fatigue. With the advent of the electric light bulb, night is no longer a time to shut down and rest. And the World Wide Web means we can work 24/7 if we want to. More and more of us feel we have to in the highly-competitive global economy.
The thing is, even when we have time to ourselves, it is still hard to sleep. Often we worry about what may be and we conjure up images of worst-case scenarios. So not only are our lives occupied, they are also preoccupied with things yet to be which may never be. Indeed, in some companies paranoia is part of the company culture.
What is perhaps more tragic is that church life is no source of respite. More and more churches are functioning on the basis of management by objectives, defining themselves and their members by their productivity. I have lost count of the number of Christians who have told me that often they cannot tell the difference between their companies and their churches in terms of the demand to perform.
In the world and in the church then, rest gets no respect. And most of us are running around with a serious rest/sleep debt. Does this worry you? It should.
In his book, Sleep Thieves, Stanley Coren estimates that “Each year, sleep-related errors and accidents cost the United States over $56 billion, cause nearly 25,000 deaths, and result in over 2.5 million disabling injuries.“
Why should this surprise us? Everytime we tinker with God’s pattern we reap the consequences. The creation pattern was six days of work, one day of rest. It is not a matter of pitting rest vs. work but rather an embracing of the intimate relationship between work and rest.
We were meant to live our lives with a rhythm of work and rest, work and rest. Of course we can only live like that if we trust that God is on His throne and is taking care of us.
If the weight of our lives is in our own hands, then we will be driven by fear and we need to work as hard as we can to remain in the game. But if we really believe that we have a heavenly Father who is watching out for us, we can work when it is time to work, and rest when it is time to rest. We can be free to get the rest we need.
If anyone had reason to worry and lose sleep, it should have been David in Psalm 3. He was surrounded by a myriad of foes. Yet he could hit the sack at night and sleep because he was secure in the care and love of his sovereign Lord. “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.” (v.5 NRSV)
As we faced the end of the year, which means holiday time in my part of the world, I hope you will make time for the rest you need.
And maybe our churches need to set aside days for eating and sleeping alongside days of fasting and praying. In the times we live in, both will require faith.
- Taken from Travel Mercies: Reflections From The Road Called Life by Tan Soo-Inn
Awesome article. Only now do I know that I'm suffering from fatigue & burnout... all the symptoms are familiar. I like the prescription to eat and sleep..! :)
ReplyDeleteI've always believed in this! :D
ReplyDeleteThat's probably why I'm a bit behind in my work too... :p
tkbs - yeah, eat + sleep would be good for u! Do regularly!
Oh yeah... think its my season now to sleep and eat (in terms of my work). I had what people take probably 6-7 years to achieve squeezed into 3 years at my former company (not that i was unhappy about it).
ReplyDeleteAs the song in 24/7 goes, "All in a dayyy.......!"
In any case, i reckoned that my current workplace is a place to rest. I shall not complain about its slow pace, but instead, take time out to enjoy the slowness, as well as prepare myself for the next race. As mentioned in Ecc, there's a time and season for everything.
Yes, sleep is important too. All of us need to sleep more these days. I once met an old friend, whom i knew for about 10 years, not very close, also an auditor, and he asked me "Yat Sing, what's the latest you ever stayed back till?".
Me: 1.30am i guess. What about you?
Him: 4pm like that lah..
Me: ?????
Me: You what??? You mean you worked through the night and till the next day till 4pm?? No sleep?
Him: Yah, no sleep. But ok lah.
Siao one... let's all sleep while we can.... *yawn...*
haha, posted this up in response to a friend's question. She's been worked very hard these few years, and she's wondering,"What's up, God? Why are you working me so hard?"
ReplyDeleteMy first answer was "Well, you know I always take Covenant's pastors' stand*..." Haha, think that was of no help to her.
Came across this article and reminded of her situation. Well, I don't think it answers her question as to "Lord, WHY me?" but i sure hope it's more helpful than my first answer :D
Glad this article is helpful to you all, and thanks for your replies!
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* "The wicked shall have no rest" - an insider jokes amongst the pastors. They are amongst the hardest-worked in the church. It's great they still have their sense of humor. :p
Kekek..... "woked"?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Ps Benny Ho once shared with us, that actually we're all called to be full-time ministers. The marketplace for us is our ministry. If then, we minister in the marketplace during weekdays, and on Sundays come back to church to minister more, then we're not being full time ministers, but Over Time ministers! Haha....
So the congregation is the hardest-worked? Hee...
haha, for all you know, all our pastors can probably cook very well... :P
ReplyDelete