This time of the year is crazy! I am there with the rest of you–a few days out from the big day with a lot of shopping left to do…trying to remember, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” But as I was thinking of what selection of my book to post for Everyday Money Heroes, this came to mind. This is a chapter of my most recent book, Christ-Centered Contentment. If you like what you read, you can pick up a copy of the book here. Have a merry Christmas, and don’t beat yourself up for being busy over the holidays, but take some time after the holidays to reflect over the pace of your life.
Busyness
Discontent’s favorite pastime
“Hey, Steve, this is Mark. We got three of the five points agreed to on the deal. What? No, we can’t press all five. It will fall through if we get too aggressive. Oh, ok. Hmm. Yeah, I know what you mean. Hold on, let me check my last email from their rep, and I will call you back. Ok. Talk to you in a second.”
[30 Second interlude]
“Steve? It’s Mark again. I just checked the stats and she did say 40 percent. We are going to have to shake our figures, but I think we can make it work. Now? Really? Yeah, I can get to it, but it will take me an hour or so. All right, talk to you soon.”
[10 Second Interlude]
“Hello, this is Mark Thompson. I spoke to one of your reps the other day about a…”
“Unbelievable,” said the elderly man shaking his head as he washed his hands. We looked at each other and smiled. The conversation above was still going on in the bathroom stall a few feet away. He looked at me, wrinkled his brow and said in a graveling voice: “You know, when I was a kid, we knew when to hang up the phone!”
~ Busyness ~
The story above, though true and a little disgusting, was a teachable moment in my life. It is true. People nowadays, myself included, don’t know when to hang up the phone, shut down the computer, unplug the mp3 player, or turn off the television. Advancements in technology do great things to increase our standard of living and our capacity for achievement but have also done a great job of burdening us with busyness. Ultimately, technology is not to blame for our haste. Instead, it merely reveals (or perhaps accelerates) our addiction to busyness. We check email at the dinner table, take conference calls on the interstate, scan stock quotes at the soccer game, work on vacation, and constantly brush off our family and friends because we “are in the middle of something”. Somewhere in this insanity, we need to stop, unplug, and plug into God.
I believe there is a strong correlation between a person’s contentment and their ability to rest. It seems the more satisfied we are within our souls, the more space we have in our schedule. Obviously we could blow this idea out of proportion to justify laziness, but this is not my intent. The church fathers over the years spoke of something called Otium Sanctum, or “holy leisure”. The great men and women of faith understood that our lives are called to balance. Work is essential, but so is time for rest, reverence, and reflection.
Turning down responsibilities or shying away from an opportunity would almost be viewed as sacrilegious in today’s culture and churches. We constantly buy into the notion that the more we are doing, the greater impact we are having. This is simply not true. Experience has taught me the opposite. We most often are spread so thin and move so quickly from one thing to the next that we have virtually no impact at all. Granted, one could easily distort this message to rationalize inactivity but honestly: Are people so busy because they have found so many sources of life and so many satisfactions for their longing souls? Perhaps our haste is better attributed to a frantic search for any kind of satisfaction whatsoever, or at least a distraction from all our inner emptiness?
Discontent loves distraction, but true contentment understands the importance of rest. The following pages are designed to challenge us to take some time to reflect over how we are investing our time here on earth. Such assessment will free us to experience greater contentment and distinguish discontent’s obsession with distraction.
Busyness is a choice
“One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.” (Eccl. 4:6)
Before even starting, I must clear the air: It is obvious that life requires a certain level of busyness. I am in no way implying that a frantic weekend, chaotic afternoon, or bulging day planner is a sign of spiritual deficiency. A reasonable quantity of activity shows that we are alive. It shows that we are involved and actively engaged. That being said, today’s Christian needs much education in the school of rest. The first lesson is to recognize that we choose to be busy.
“What? Are you kidding me? I would kill for some leisure time!” This is a normal reaction to the statement that we choose to be busy. Though it seems ridiculous, it is true: the vast majority of our stress, busyness, and pressure are self-inflicted. Take a moment to think about your own schedule. How much of your busyness is self-inflicted? On the surface we would deny it, but I think in today’s age we actually like being busy. We choose to fill our schedules to the brim. We over-commit.
Why you might ask? There are two reasons. First, we do not understand the importance of rest and thus have adopted the world’s frantic pace instead of a Biblical sense of balance. We do not intentionally carve out time for Otium Sanctum. We do not say “no”. We do not reserve any of our time for stopping, simplicity, or stillness. Secondly, I believe we like being busy because it makes us feel important. It makes us feel like people and things need us—have to have us—couldn’t survive without our intervening presence. Being so busy gives us the illusion of importance. Yet ironically, by doing so, we often neglect to do anything important.
We must begin to protect our day planner. Our schedules are full but lack sustenance. Our automatic response to our dissatisfaction is to add more items, but we must stop choosing to be so busy and approach our calendar with contentment. There is a need for change.
Reclaim what is essential
“There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, ‘And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?’ This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.” (Eccl. 4:8)
It is time for us to start asking the tough question of Ecclesiastes—the question of “Why?” The man described above did not live contently. He worked with no end to no satisfaction and never stopped to ask the question why. This sad case is too similar to so much of what we see around us.
Room remains for us to take an honest look at the way we spend our time and compare it to the things in life we claim to value most. We must reclaim what is essential. Sit down with your day planner and break it down item by item. Does our scurrying about fall in line with what we believe to be significant? For example, if we claim to value our relationship with Christ more than any other thing, does He get any more time than Sunday morning 11:00-12:00? What about our family? If “family comes first”, does this belief show up on our schedule? In all honesty: Show me your day planner, and I will show you your priorities. It can be life changing for us to analyze the quantity and quality of our daily activities.
If you are an average American, then there are most likely a few things to sever from your schedule. Things must be cut back, but what? How do you decide which items survive and which ones don’t? I offer you the following paradigm: “Brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Phil. 4:8) Paul gives parameters by which to judge our schedules. He provides us with things we must choose to dwell on. If are honest, then we will admit that some of our pastimes do not meet the criteria above. Holding our day planner up to the Philippians test assures us that we are spending our time wisely. Otherwise, we live among countless distractions that drive our discontent and separate us from the wholesome simplicity of the Gospel. We foolishly forsake what is good for things that don’t really matter.
Our faith will direct us to spend time meaningfully. This is both a result of contentment and a producer of it. A snowball effect is created as we seek to be good stewards of our time. We do not live in confusion of what is important. We live in enjoyment of what is. This drives our contentment and causes us to pursue praiseworthy things with even more intensity. Inner peace grows ever more real with each day well spent.
Rest
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
Christ speaks of rest for the weary and heavy-laden. This is the antidote for the fanatical frenzy of the world in which we live. Only the weary find the beauty in this appeal. Only those laden down with the frantic pace of trying to be everything to everyone accept the yoke of our Savior. Only those tired of carrying the crushing burden of self-justification rejoice in the glorious privilege of this glorious rest. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible praises diligence and hard work, criticizes laziness, and commands us to physically rest from our labor, but Christ is speaking of an internal rest—rest for our souls.
The life of a mature Christian will be markedly different from an unbeliever. There is a quiet, peaceful rest within the depths of his soul. Inner peace, light burdens, easy yoke, and rest for our soul—are these not perfect descriptions of contentment? All of these things are available to us if we will seek Christ for them. The world, our enemy, and our flesh will keep us too busy to enjoy or pursue anything essential, but a content Christian knows he has all he needs in Christ. In this he rests. In this he slows his life to soak up the indescribable, incalculable mystery of the Gospel story. Atoning blood, endless mercy, and eternal life—are not these things worth stilling our schedules to spend time in awe and wonder? Shouldn’t such things produce true contentment in the deepest regions of our soul?
The content live in rest, the discontent live in distraction, and most of us live somewhere in between. Let us begin to reclaim what is essential, downsize what isn’t, and enjoy the rest Christ promises to the weary and heavy-laden.
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