I was having a conversation with my 7-year-old son, Isaac, and mentioned to him that a cell phone needed rest. He said, “No it doesn’t. It’s not even human.”
I assured him that it did, but he wasn’t buying it. So I did some research and showed him.
Now, a phone doesn’t need to sleep like a person, but it does benefit from periods when it isn’t being pushed so hard. Think about what happens when you play a game or otherwise heavily use your phone while it is plugged in. The phone is working hard to run the app while the battery is charging at the same time. Both activities generate heat, and excessive heat is one of the things that can shorten the life of a battery. Sometimes the best thing you can do is simply put the phone down and let it cool off.
It also isn’t ideal for many lithium-ion batteries to spend all their time completely full or completely empty. Keeping the battery somewhere in the middle of its range when practical can reduce some of the stress that causes batteries to age.
In other words, even something designed to work for us all day long benefits when we stop pushing it constantly.
If we understand that about a phone, shouldn’t we realize that we need rest too?
If we are constantly pushing ourselves to do more and more, eventually we will find ourselves running out of energy. Now, we must not only rest, of course, but we must rest. There is work to be done, but God also tells us to rest.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7 KJV).
Probably one of the clearest stories displaying this is the story of Elijah. Elijah was a man of God, but he reached a breaking point. When he did, God sent an angel to feed him and let him rest.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee (1 Kings 19:4–7 KJV).
Elijah wasn’t backslidden. He was exhausted.
Now, you may think you’re stronger than that. You can just push through, right?
I don’t want to belabor the point, but I do want to show you some common signs of fatigue. Fatigue doesn’t always show up as simply feeling sleepy. Sometimes the first signs are changes in attitude, thinking, speech, or performance.
You may find yourself getting aggravated over things that normally wouldn’t bother you. You become impatient with people, interruptions, delays, or problems. You say the wrong word, mix up words, stumble over sentences, or struggle to explain something you normally know. You overlook simple details, forget steps, make mistakes at work, or have to redo something you normally do without thinking. You may complete a familiar task and afterward barely remember doing it. You may even start dropping things, bumping into things, or fumbling with tools.
Sometimes those things aren’t telling you that you need to try harder. They may be telling you that you need to rest.
Jesus said:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30 KJV).
Think about that for a moment.
I’m not saying that we won’t have hard times, but we shouldn’t make them harder by trying to carry everything ourselves. We can’t do it without Jesus. We need to lean on Him, and sometimes we simply need to rest and recharge.
So if you’ve been burning the proverbial candle at both ends, stop. Rest before you burn yourself out.
There will still be work tomorrow. There will still be problems that need solving. There will still be people who need you. But you will be much better prepared to face those things after you have rested.
Psalm 127:1–2 (KJV)
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
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