| Home | eBooks |
| Devotions | Podcasts |
| Articles | Church Suppliers |
| Videos | Our Writers |
| About Us | Find Church Jobs |
Resting isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds.
Our traditional definition of rest is simple enough: Do less.
A more fleshed-out, biblical understanding of rest, however, is a bit deeper than merely doing less.
It’s really doing less to allow time and space to become more.
And it’s that last part that we probably struggle with the most.
I’ve been a pastor, non-stop, since I was 19 years old. I love it. I don’t plan to do anything else in my adult life—at least nothing that replaces pastoring as my primary calling.
I’m 40 as I write this, so I’ve now spent more than half my life preaching and leading the church. And for the first time ever, I’m currently on sabbatical.
At the beginning of the month, I had several goals in mind:
Then I came across some material written about pastoral sabbaticals that said something like…
Obviously, I kept reading.
My clicking around led me to John Ortberg’s article about his very first sabbatical, during which he met with Dallas Willard, who changed John’s priorities with a simple statement…
“You must arrange to live with deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday experience of life with God.”
I realized about nine days into my 30 that this month “off” isn’t about doing more things or doing different things than what I normally do. It’s far more about:
Nothing is hard, but as far as the church is concerned, we have leaders and volunteers who are absolutely amazing. I’ve done practically nothing and yet pretty much everything is being done, and done well.
I decided not to write any book proposals—yet. And other than preaching at a friend’s church in another state one Sunday, I’ve really been able to unplug fairly well.
It’s the becoming something that has been challenging.
I realize that, as a pastor, I spend most of my time performing. I don’t mean that I’m pretending to be something that I’m not. I simply mean that, when I wake up on Sunday, I’m preparing to go and interact with people, love people, answer questions, preach the sermon before a gathered crowd on the stage, greet a few more people, answer a few more questions and then finally head home.
During the week, I’m preparing for Sunday, answering emails, having lots of coffee with people, directing people to other staff members or volunteers for answers, thinking through upcoming events and sermon series, etc.
In other words, pastors are pretty much always “ON.” And my wife is even more ON than I am in terms of the number of people who connect with her for friendship and for help.
When you’re always on and you’re always doing, it’s very easy to forget who you really are—deep down, in the dark, when no one is looking or expecting anything of you. It’s certainly hard to live in a state of becomingwhat God intends for you to become.
In short, you lose sight of “deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday experience of life with God,” as Willard put it.
After realizing my missteps, I decided to start this sabbatical over and do it a little differently.
I’m waking up in the mornings and doing nothing or at least, as little as possible. I’ve been spending that time intentionally listening for the Holy Spirit to remind me about who he is, who I am, and what I should be becoming.
I’m writing down whatever he tells me and whatever insights I gain from reading the scriptures, and I’m talking to my wife about what I’m hearing, and what she’s hearing, too.
Has it been easy? Fun? Relaxing? Not exactly.
It’s been painful.
I see, in the mirror of God’s word, subtle flaws in my character that need to be scrubbed and chiseled away. I face the little pieces of myself that don’t resemble Jesus and ask him to break me of those things, to melt and re-mold me into the likeness of his Son, Jesus.
I started this part of my sabbatical by meditating on a verse from Hosea.
“Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12 NLT).
While I know that the context is ancient Israel, there’s definitely an outline for my own moment of rest…
1. Plant seeds of righteousness deep within as I hear God through his Word.
2. As Bob Goff says, “Become love.”
3. Plow through the hardness of my heart and throw light on all of my blind spots.
4. Seek the Lord—get to know him all over again as the real me.
5. Live under his blessing.
In doing so, I’m asking myself a very important question… Why don’t I do this every single day? Why do I focus so much on doing more that I lose touch with the man I’m supposed to be becoming in my relationship with Christ?
I’m coming to think of this sabbatical as, not a mere moment of rest, but a re-learning of the very art of rest. I’m learning to “arrange to live with deep contentment, joy and confidence in [my] everyday experience of life with God.”
Thanks to the late Dr. Dallas Willard for pointing that out, and for Dr. John Ortberg for writing about it, and to my sweet wife, Angie, for gently questioning my original sabbatical plan and urging me toward actual rest and renovation in my heart.
What does real rest look like for a pastor?
First, follow Rick Warren’s genius plan:
Second, intentionally take a break from projecting to everyone (including God) the you that you want them to see so that you can really become the you that God intends for you to become in him.
Photo source: istock
Have you ever felt the pull to full-time ministry work as a missionary or pastor? If not, you can still make a Kingdom impact without quitting your current job. In this eBook, you will learn the four essentials that can change your perspective of work, your workplace, and most importantly, your heart.
 | Rev. Dave Blundell is the Executive Director of Hungry For Life International. Dave holds an … |
 | Carey Nieuwhof is a former lawyer and founding pastor of Connexus Church. He’s the author … |
 | Brad Delaughter serves as Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church De Soto, MO. Brad is … |
 | Copyright © 2025 Networld Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved. |
Already a member? Sign in below.
