Do you feel burned out? Are your spiritual batteries drained and in need of a recharge?

While living in an interconnected world, it’s easy to lose balance. On the one hand, God gave us much to do (Genesis 1:28, Matthew 28:18-20). We should live on mission, consumed for eternity.

Yet God does not desire that we as His children live hectic lives. 

Christ As a Model for the Christian Life

On earth, Christ modeled a life of service, punctuated by strategic rest. As Jesus told His disciples, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Like Christ, we too must periodically recharge. This, in turn, increases our effectiveness. 

Following Christ’s example, the Christian life can be one of both eternal productivity and enduring peace. 

As a family of four, we have responsibilities to work, raise our children, and proclaim God’s truth. But every weekend, we strive to incorporate four principles that we’ll outline today. 

Learn these four simple steps to spiritually recharging.

1. Rest

The Principle of Rest

After creating the universe in only six days, God “rested on the seventh day” (Genesis 2:1-3). This important idea was reiterated to the children of Israel in the commandment to “Remember the Sabbath Day” (Exodus 20:8). 

Throughout creation, God has instilled this principle of rest. Rather than running pell-mell 24-7, God designed us to sleep. Further, God created our bodies to need food several times a day, reminding us to remain grateful and dependent on Him (Deuteronomy 8). 

God even instituted the day and the night, breaking up times of work and rest. As Psalm 104:23 says, “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.” 

The Biblical idea is not obtaining perpetual rest on this earth, but rather, finding strategic bits of rest. These breaks allow us to be more effective until the believer’s final “rest” in heaven (Hebrews 4). 

The Practice of Rest

Even scientific research acknowledges that humans are most productive when they have time for rest. For example, a study from Stanford University observed sharp declines in productivity after working 50 hours a week, with no noticeable productivity gain after 55 hours. 

In today’s distracted and hyperconnected world, rest is more important than ever. Real rest means breaking from devices, distractions, busyness, strain, and stress to focus on the eternally essential things in life. 

Rest includes uninterrupted mealtimes, stillness before God (Psalm 46:11), sleep, and contemplation. 

In short, rest lays the foundation for the other three steps.

2. Reconnect 

Rest allows us to more fully connect with meaningful relationships—God, family, fellow believers. Additionally, rest enables us to go deeper in our relationships.

Though life relationships take work, life is all about relationships. Ask yourself: How are the essential relationships in my life? 

Interacting 

Favorite connecting activities for us include family walks, four-wheeler rides with Wallace, and dinnertime conversation. On late Sunday afternoons, Wallace and I sometimes drive down to my family’s house just down the road to see the cows and enjoy popcorn and fellowship. 

Additionally, we’re encouraged by fellowshipping with the body of Christ and being challenged by the Word at church (Hebrews 10:23-25).

3. Reflect 

After God had created, He reviewed His creation, calling it “very good.” Similarly, as His image-bearers, we can take time to look back, look up, and look within. 

Look up: What has God done? What am I grateful for regarding His attributes and work in my life?

Look within: Where am I? 

Look back: How was the week? What did I learn?

The Psalmist stated, “Search me O God” (Psalm 139:23-24). We are to “meditate on God’s goodness” (Psalm 104). Psalm 77:12 says, “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”

Every week, on Sunday afternoon, I take time to reflect on God’s goodness, the past week, and the week to come. 

Read More: How to Conduct a Successful Weekly Review

4. Refocus 

As you periodically reflect, you will find regrets. But we must learn from them and not live in them. 

Certainly, the apostle Paul regretted his wasted past. He had valued the wrong things over Christ, and he had persecuted the Church (Phillippians 3:1-7). But Christ freed him from the chains of regret. 

Looking Ahead

Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Like Paul, we should move past the past to serve God today and tomorrow. 

Christ alone must be the focus of our planning and our lives. As you choose how to invest your time, is Christ foremost on your mind? Are you pressing towards the mark? Do you strive to live for eternity?

It’s easy to lose eternal focus. It’s easier to live to please others rather than living to please God. We must continually remind ourselves to press towards the goal. 

Living on Purpose or Impulse? 

As Christians, we should not live stressed lives, but blessed lives filled with obedience to Christ.  

It’s easy to live by impulse in a world saturated with Facebook likes, fast-food, and feel-good teaching. Unfortunately, impulse living results in wasted potential. 

The second option, purposeful living, is the road less traveled. But it’s the only way to truly live an eternally significant life. 

Those who lead purposeful lives can say, at life’s end, as Christ did, “I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).

At the day’s end, would you rather gain temporary applause of men or the eternal praise of God?

Question: How do you incorporate rest and reflection into your life?