The challenge of resting

Busyness is a badge of importance, it's a sign of our value, it's a way of conveying our popularity, our intelligence, our indispensability.  Busyness is all of these and more.  But busyness can also be a symptom of something distinctly dangerous, it can be a warning sign that we need to heed.  But on the other hand in Proverbs busyness can be godly and to be sluggardly is sinful.  How are we to think about our lives, our schedules, our diaries, how are we to plan our time.  What does godliness look like?  Restful?  Lazy?  Busy?  Somewhere in between?

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with busyness.  Adam and Eve were made to be busy, they were made to work, to till the ground and work it, to raise children.  It is part of God's good creation that he gives to them.  Ah but...! you say, then the fall happened.  Work then was different to now, work then was restful, it was enjoyed in a perfect world.  But then as we read through our bible we come to Jesus, and Jesus was busy, he is on mission, one of the words Mark frequently uses in his gospel is 'immediately'.  No sooner has Jesus done this or that but he immediately moves on to the next thing.  And Jesus is perfect, his busyness is not sinful.  So busyness can't simply be tagged sinful, because Jesus is perfect.

Where busyness is a warning to us, where it is a symptom for us to pay attention to is in what it may show us when we stop and ponder why we are busy.  It is what is going on in our hearts behind our busyness that is the key to whether our busyness is godly or sinful.  Why am I busy?  Am I busy because I want to be indispensable?  Am I busy because I believe the lie that I am indispensable?  Am I busy because I don't trust God to provide, to build, to lead...?  Am I busy because I am avoiding something else?  Am I busy because I think I can save people?  Am I busy because it is just a habit I have picked up or drifted into?  Am I busy on mission?  Or am I too busy because I am distracted or overloaded by too many other things which distract me from focus on what I should be doing?

Behind our busyness lie the answers to some fundamental questions; who do I really (functionally) believe God is?  How do I really relate to him?  Who do I believe I am?  What do I believe God has called me to do for his glory?  What does that calling translate into in my daily life?

The irony is that one of the ways we avoid answering those questions is by being too busy to do so.  That's why resting is so challenging, because as we rest we find out how we answer those questions.