Tired of Being Tired?

Nearly every morning, I say something to my wife like, “I am completely and utterly exhausted.” Even though I’m just waking up, I am completely exhausted. I’m sure all of us can relate. No different from most, I’m tired because I have too much going on. Mostly work related, but it's not like I don't keep busy in my personal life. It seems like we all have too many action items, too many meetings and too many goals.

Two weeks ago, Dianne and I spent some time at the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene’s Family Camp at Pinecrest Camp outside of Cherokee Pass, MO. The week was good for a lot of reasons, namely that it reminds me of whom I am. It does seem a bit like Mayberry and that’s a good thing. Oh, there are things to do, but mostly things that seem like Barney, Andy or Opey would be doing. Aunt Bee isn’t there, but Aunt Marty is. Most days are composed of fishing, shooting, church, dinner at the cafeteria and lunch at Dog N Suds. Lots of time for rest and reflection.

I’ve been thinking about what, if anything, I learned from Campmeeting and this Sunday, Ryan Wampler at The Crossing preached a message entitled, “How should a Christian approach the Sabbath?” The main point of his message was that God made man to require a Sabbath, but man’s focus on himself has lead to an exhaustion that can’t be resolved by his own deeds. He started off by talking about an article by Judith Shulevitz in the NY Times entitled “Bring Back the Sabbath”.
Her article is notable if for no reason other than this quote.

The Sabbath provides two things essential to anyone who wishes to lift himself out of the banality of mercantile culture: time to contemplate and distance from everyday demands. The Sabbath is to the week what the line break is to poetic language. It is the silence that forces you to return to what came before to find its meaning.

Ryan also asked a series of questions to address.
1. What kind of rest does God call for us?
2. How do I fit this kind of rest in?
3. Do I need to rest on Sunday?
4. Why Sunday and not Saturday?
5. What do I do if I have to work on the Sabbath?

In the next few weeks, I’m going to be working on these answers.