Work life balance has become a buzz word in the working world. With the advent of mobile phones there can be no boundary line between career and home. People no longer are in the office from 9 to 5, they are attached to the office 24/7. This isn’t good for the soul.
Recently, my family and I went on a camping trip and I did something radical…I turned my iPhone off. Yup. Straight fire powered it down. It was glorious. I never realized [although perhaps some people tried to tell me] that I was way over involved in my phone. I want to be the first to know what’s going on, the first to respond, the first to connect. Noble enough, but this also isn’t good for the soul.
Long before work life balance, God created a rhythm to life and it includes rest. Each day the idea is that we pour ourselves out [hopefully for His glory] and each night we sleep. When we sleep our body, including our minds, renew themselves.
We set aside the weekend to rest, and yet those can be busier than the weekdays. God set aside a day of worship and rest for his glory, which we traditionally celebrate on Sundays. This is very good for the soul.
Yet here lies the conundrum. There will always be a morning. Sleep has to end sometime. There will always be Mondays. The weekend has end sometime. What does that tell us?
Even the rhythm of rest here on Earth points to the need for an eternal rest, with no alarm clocks and no Mondays. No stressed spirits, overworked bodies and tired minds. No need for a work life balance. We will be with God, perfectly and forever…just like we talked about at SummerFest this year.
It reminds me of one of the verses of one of my favorite hymns “The Church’s One Foundation” –
Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation of peace forevermore,
till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.
Let us strive to enter that eternal rest and until then live in a balance of all things for the glory of God.
