So this morning, I woke up in Canada for the first time in my life. Today is a rest day to relax and adjust to the time difference. And do an hour round trip to get a toy for a friend!
And I must admit, I am not good at relaxing. I have to force myself to have a day off. I was on the plane yesterday and wrote six chapters of a new book the Lord instructed me to write to fivefold ministers. I’ve gone through emails, dealt with pastoral situations and all sorts yesterday, but today I need to rest.
God set that pattern in motion. 86% work, 14% rest. It’s a good ratio, perfect in fact. It’s in the Ten Commandments, which of course means over the years both Jews and Christians have gone overboard in implementation and come up with some strange ideas, but the principle is very sound: everyone’s diary should have some white space in it, some margin, some space where nothing is happening. That’s where you recharge, that’s where you dream, that’s where you work smart not hard.
Now like I said, I struggle to do that. I’ve always worked hard, I have worked from 14, worked through school and uni, worked my way through Bible College, and today I still, all jokes about pastors only working Sundays aside, still work exceptionally hard. I have to refocus to ensure I have rest time. I have to put rest into my to do list, treat it as an essential high priory task. I’m sure some of you are in the same boat… Make sure you rest.
We’ve pressed pause on a few things at the Tree of Life Family because I can see my pastors and elders also need some more rest time and we cannot drive people, especially volunteers 24/7. God didn’t do 24/7 and He does not need to eat, sleep or use the bathroom.
It’s good to rest, but in my experience most people do not work as hard as they should. Entertainment and amusement is better than it has ever been, computer games and films more realistic and engaging, there’s social media, travel is cheaper and easier. The problem many people have is that they are not productive enough.
I go on some Pastor’s social media, and you think – has this person retired? They are just always on holiday, even when they are not they are. That kind of constant rest does not grow healthy churches or healthy Christians.
The most extreme version of this is David who quit his God given role of leader of the king’s armies and stayed at home and ended up meeting Bathsheba while on furlough. Idle hands are the devil’s hands indeed. Whenever I read about a pastor having an affair I am immediately confused as to how he even had the extra time! If we get busy about the kingdom, we won’t have time to be selfish.
My appeal today, ironically on my day off, is don’t take too much rest. Rest one in seven like Jesus did. Then fill the other six days with hustle, bustle, working, praying, going to church, getting there early, serving, investing, loving, witnessing, helping, producing…
Proverbs 14. 23 says there is profit in hard work. I see a lot of people never profit because they don’t work hard. I regularly meet Bible College students and graduates who know the Word, are personable, engaging and could be great pastors, evangelists, etc. But they aren’t. Because they are not profiting because they are hardly working, not working hard. They are saying they live by faith, but faith comes by hearing the Word and the Word says if you don’t work you don’t eat.
Or they have a job but want the pulpit but never work in tbe church, they don’t even turn up regularly. We had a Bible College graduate storm off because he turned up so late to do his offering talk the service was nearly over, I was wrapping up the sermon! He wanted us all to have say there waiting for his glorious moment.
Another one wanted more money a month than Amanda and I got paid together to work two days a week because he was so anointed and special. And he barely did any work on those two days.
If you want to succeed in life you have to work at it. I’m in Canada speaking at a healing conference. I have more invites than I can manage to do healing conferences right now. Mainly the Healing Book. How did that book come into existence? Because for 40 days I got up and for at least one hour, mostly two or more, I wrote on healing to get people in the Tree Family healed. Those emails saw a lady healed of hundreds of tumors and my son Adam – also a grafter – put them into book form.
A lot of you want to have a book. Very few of you have spent aorund one hundred hours writing. That’s the power of work. You might know more than I do on healing, but if you don’t work it doesn’t get done.
When I go, I want to be able to say like Paul, I ran my race, I kept the faith. But if you never run you cannot run a race. If you don’t work you can’t work it.
Right now Jesus is working hard building the church. While I am here in Canada, my desire for everyone in Tree of Life is that you put your hand to the Plough and actually work.
When I come back will you be where you are when I left, or did you get up an hour earlier every day and write that book in your heart? Will you get your charitable trust sorted out, your business registered at company house? Will you build what you need to build, design what you need to design, sign up for the course. Going to Heal the Nations will be work. Travel is work, taking time of work is work, getting into the Word takes work. Will you work on building up your faith this summer? Or will you keep procrastinating?
Keep hoping that you are so special that you are an exception to the Biblical principles and that someone else will come along and do all the work for you? Will you let another week go by that you will never ever back and not work for your dreams, for the kingdom, for Jesus Christ?
Grace doesn’t mean not working, it means to get to work. To do work that matters. Don’t send me an email telling me I don’t understand Grace if you are limiting God and falling apart like a two dollar suitcase. If this message means you let Satan steal your lunch and pop the bag, I contend it’s you who doesn’t get Grace. You need to live in the balance of grace and faith, not the balance of grace and laziness.
There is no dress rehearsal, you only get one chance at this. Work!
Selah.
Love you all, Tree of Life is in my heart and I am believing for great testimonies from this post. I’ve already had several from yesterdays!
Tired? Do the work tired.
Bored if it? Do the work bored
Under pressure? Work under pressure
In a storm! Work in the storm.
There’s always profit in this. See you all soon
Grace and peace
Ben
Tree of Life Blog 