The Difference Between Rest and Indulgence
One of my most formative mentors was a man named John Hawkins. I once heard John described with the phrase, “John speaks; people weep.” He is a man so full of wisdom, humility and godliness, I have found that to be true. His words carry a special weight to them that I have rarely encountered elsewhere.
One of John’s favorite questions he would ask when we would meet was, “Max, have you been resting lately? Or have you been indulging?” This question was always a gut punch of sorts. I so often found myself consumed by a laundry list of doing that I very rarely made space to rest. To simply be in the presence of God.
As coronavirus continues to linger and impact the normal rhythms of our lives, I find myself doing all the time. I roll out of bed into watching kids. I move from my living room into my home office, and from there to chores, and from chores to kids...you get the idea.
John’s question always felt like it touched a sore spot because when I find myself tired, I often look to indulgence, not to true rest. What’s the difference? In Jeremiah chapter 2, the prophet delivers a sober pronouncement against Israel:
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
All of us find ourselves thirsting for the fullness of life that is only found in God, yet often, we turn from the sole source that can fill us towards vessels full of cracks. We place our attention on things that cannot deliver the rest we truly crave, whether that’s surfing social media, Netflix, video games, online shopping...the list goes on. We seek indulgence when what we need is rest.
One practical rule of thumb I use to check if I’m resting or indulging is if it leaves me refreshed to enter back into the work before me, or angry to leave the thing that I was enjoying. Chances are if I’m a grouch leaving an activity, say, binging Netflix, it wasn’t all that restful.
Church family, are you making space for rest? One of the great ironies of rest is that we rarely stumble into it. To rest takes active work beforehand. I need to ensure that I’m caught up on my tasks, that I’ve planned a time in my calendar, that I’ve covered my other duties so that I can unplug and step away.
This Saturday, we are hosting a digital retreat for our men, with opportunities for prayer and reflection scattered throughout the day. Practically, this will consist of some guided prayer and scripture meditation, some teaching on communion with God, and some prompts to guide you through reflection. If it has been a while since you’ve rested, if you have a question you want to bring before God, if there is something that you need to process through, if you need wisdom, if you’re in a funk, I encourage you--join us.
If you are in a position to enable someone to rest, maybe a husband or a roommate, consider how you might bless them by covering other duties so they can enter into rest. If you plan to join us, consider when you might create a space for rest for those in your life.
If you aren’t able to join for any reason, or you’re not a man, but are still seeking some rest, we will make our retreat plan and resources available. You can check out the itinerary and devotional resources here—feel free to use it when you can.
The good news of Jesus is that we can enter into this rest with God. It is not contingent on how good we have been or how faithfully we have sought God. Christ’s perfection is what qualifies us. As Jesus says in John 4, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” Will you join us in resting, in the fullness only found in Christ, this weekend?