Flourishing in life conjures up in my mind a sense of balance, of life rhythms of work and rest, of a healthy mind, body, and soul. Daily life along with a weekly schedule has a cadence and rhythm to it that allows the right balance of work, sleep, and pleasure. With a natural, unhurried pace, the day unfolds with a proper amount of time devoted to worthwhile activities such as Scripture reading, exercise, work/school, family/friends, and sleep. These descriptors are what an ideal day looks like to me with equilibrium to the various domains/areas of both my personal and professional life. There is a sense of peace, or shalom, that envelopes you into it’s embrace. Oh, how delightful it would be for all our days on this earth to remain untouched by sickness, busyness, struggles and turmoil; however, we know that heaven is the only place where this will occur.

In a culture where we are bombarded by noise at every turn and it’s nearly impossible to mute all the advertisements, tune out the number of people having conversations on speakerphone, or distance ourselves from the din of modern life, it’s no wonder a repeated message of the need for sabbath continually emerges in my reading, church messages, and professional development. We live in a time period where it seems we relish the state of being overly busy and packed schedules more than we do a life at a more sustainable pace.

Leaving no margin for worship, or even a secular Sabbath, society encourages us to fill our schedules full and those who are employed in the sport industry are especially vulnerable to this mindset. There are no days off from sports in our country as seasons overlap, various levels opt for alternating days, and children’s organized sports are continuous. In the midst of preparing for game days, there are the daily demands of reports, meetings, and other duties. Where is the opportunity for a day of rest, of Sabbath, for them? Although each individual sport is required to accommodate a day of physical rest for the players, the reality is that for the supporting staff who needs to be present at all the events, it’s difficult to find this opportunity. How do we encourage our future and current sport professionals to find the proper balance in the rhythm of a career? To build a day of rest into their lives.

Levi Lusko, in his message entitled No Days Off, shares, “We were created to work but if we model our lives after God’s example, we will see the necessity of the gift of rest.”  Society today has accepted that busyness is how it is supposed to be, but God says no. He designed rest to be a time of tranquility and rejuvenation, and to think we know more about our schedule than God is absurd. The pattern of God’s design is a balance between work and rest as he made us to work six days a week so that we can experience a “good tired” because we are accomplished and fruitful.

Rather than succumb to society’s expectations that there is a sense of fatigue we just have to live with and to refuse to accept that “low-grade anxiety is just the new normal in our culture,” Lusko reminds us to worship, rest, and delight in things that rejuvenate you. What people choose will be personalized, it may consist of prayer, worshiping together, blessing your kids, singing, or silence, but the important thing is that you experience delight. Work at your chosen vocation for five days, complete the work you are not paid to do on the sixth day, and reserve the seventh day as a time of rest. Personally, I worship on my walks. It’s a time for me to spend in silence or listening to messages and music. Several years ago, I remember attending a CSKLS conference and hearing colleagues discuss the need for leisure in our society and how it comes from God as a precious gift. My concern comes as our society only becomes busier that emerging adults will struggle to find time for Sabbath and a successful, flourishing life should be lived in balance.

To close this post, I offer a perspective of Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff in the book Sticky Faith by Powell (no relation) and Clark. An insightful read as we mentor emerging generations, especially our children. Wolterstorff imparts, “The state of shalom is the state of flourishing in all dimensions of one’s existence: in one’s relation to God, in one’s relation to one’s fellow human being, in one’s relation to nature, and in one’s relation to oneself. Evidently justice has something to do with the fact that God’s love for each and every one of God’s human creatures takes the form of God desiring shalom of each and every one.”

So, my encouragement to you is to consider your Sabbath and making it holy. What changes can you embrace that will allow a sense of shalom in your life? How can we encourage the people with which we have developed relational equity to take seriously the need for rest in such a busy world? Please share your ideas in the comments below.

On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy. Genesis 2:2 NLT