Transcript & Slides: Take a Break

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Take A Break
By David Feddes

Let me begin with a story about Jesus and his disciples. "Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two… They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them" (Mark 6:7-13).

Jesus and his disciples were very involved in vital ministry—doing extremely important stuff and being very, very busy with it. And after the disciples had been doing all that, they came back to Jesus. "The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place" (Mark 6:30-32).

Is there anything more important than what Jesus and the disciples were doing? When I say take a break, you may say, "Well, I am too busy, and what I do is too important." Really? More important than proclaiming the gospel of repentance and driving out demons and healing people? And yet even though Jesus was doing all that and it was having a tremendous impact and drawing many more people, he said, "Let's take a break. Come with me to a quiet place. Let's get some rest."

Well, that was easier said than done. The crowd chased them around the lake and eventually caught up with them again. And Jesus had compassion on them and taught them some more and then fed the 5,000 (Mark 6:33–44). So it was very hard to get a break, but they tried. And in many occasions, the Bible also tells us that Jesus did go off by himself, as well as with his disciples. So they took a break.

And what I want to talk with you about now is taking a break in various aspects of life. And here are some things that spiritual directors might call disciplines of abstinence. Now that doesn't sound very fun or exciting, does it? Disciplines of abstinence—basically it means making yourself not do some things.

Rest is taking a break from busyness. Solitude is taking a break from people. Silence is taking a break from noise. Secrecy is taking a break from publicity. Fasting is taking a break from food. Submission is taking a break from control. And sacrifice is taking a break from plenty. And we're going to look at those a little more carefully.

First, let's just look at rest—a break from busyness. That's often what we mean when we say, "Hey, take a break," or, "I need a break." God commanded from the very beginning that we need a break. He exemplified it in his own action when he created the world and then rested on the seventh day to enjoy the results of what he had made (Genesis 2:2–3).

Rest is a break from busyness. God commanded, "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest" (Exodus 34:21). God had commanded the rest on the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments, and here he’s explaining it a little more, and he says something that hits people who are in farming really hard—even during the plowing season and harvest, you must rest.

I grew up on a farm. And in the spring, when you want to get planting and the weather is perfect and the soil is just the right amount of dryness that you could actually get out there and cultivate and then seed it—and it happens to be Sunday, the day of worship—what do you do? And rain is predicted for Monday morning and for the rest of the week. And if you wait and wait, are you sure you're going to be able to get the crop planted on time?

And then what about harvest, when you have a nice big field of hay all cut and ready to be baled and stacked, and it's ready, but it's going to be Sunday, and rain is predicted for Monday? And when the rain hits that hay, it's not nearly as good. When you have to wait for it to dry out, maybe have to turn it over with a rake or some other piece of machinery and then bale it up, the hay is not nearly as good. Or you're harvesting, and you're running out of time in the harvest, and Sunday looks like a perfect harvest day. Well, what do you do?

Well, for Israel, God said, "Hey, even during plowing season, even during harvest, you must rest" (Exodus 34:21). It was a command. And maybe the way the Sabbath command is applied in the Christian age is a little different, but I'll tell you this much: even if it's not an absolute demand and command, you need it. Because you will always think there's something you got to, got to, got to do.

Growing up on a farm, we didn’t plow, we didn’t cultivate the dirt on Sunday, we didn’t bale hay and combine the grain on Sunday. And you know what? We all survived. And the hay was still there on Monday. It wasn't always in quite as good a shape. The harvest—the ground was still there to till on Monday during the spring. You know, the dirt was still there. And sometimes you had to wait another week. But we eventually got the crop in, and God provided.

If you work 24/7, just relying on "I've always got to, got to, got to be working," then you've misunderstood something. You need a break from busyness. Our farming was not as important as Jesus' gospel work. Nothing you do is more important than what Jesus and his apostles were doing. And they needed a break from their busyness, and so do you.

"In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isaiah 30:15). Sometimes we Christians who are in a very activistic mindset think that salvation is in "do, do." And we know we're not saved by our own works—maybe if our theology is right—but we still act like it. And we act like the church is only going to survive if we are constantly in activity. Those of us who are Christian leaders need to be aware of this. We need to hear Jesus' call: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mark 6:31).

Remember the story of Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary. And Martha is very, very busy getting everything all ready for the guests, and Mary is sitting, relaxing, and resting at Jesus’ feet, drinking in his teaching and enjoying his company. And Martha says, "Tell Mary to help me out." And Jesus says, "Mary has chosen the better part" (Luke 10:38–42). You need to take time to be with Jesus and take time to get away from all that stuff that keeps you so busy and rest.

Solitude is a break from people. Some of the great people of the faith are people of solitude, who spent a lot of time alone with God. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before God sent him back to Egypt to deliver the people by the power of God. Moses spent 40 days with God on Mount Sinai when God was revealing the Ten Commandments and the plan for the tabernacle and the outline for how to live as God's people in covenant with him (Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28).

John the Baptist, the mighty prophet who prepared the way for his cousin Jesus of Nazareth—that mighty prophet was a desert dweller. And people had to go out to the desert to meet him and to hear him, because he was alone with God a lot of the time (Luke 1:80; Luke 3:2–4). Jesus himself spent 40 days in the wilderness before he met up against the temptations of the evil one (Matthew 4:1–11). And we sometimes think, "Boy, that temptation must have been really powerful after Jesus was stuck out there alone for 40 days and was fasting and the like." What if Jesus spent that 40 days getting stronger in order to be able to overcome the evil one? His 40 days in the wilderness perhaps were what made him mighty, not what weakened him. And throughout his ministry, we read that Jesus often withdrew to desolate places (Luke 5:16).

The mighty apostle Paul spent up to three years in Arabia, and we don’t know of any preaching or other ministry activity. Maybe he was doing some ministry there, but a lot of that time may well have been just alone in the wilderness reflecting on what it meant to know that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus is risen. Because Paul was converted dramatically and then preached for a little bit right after that, and then he spent some time off in years we don’t know much about in Arabia. But when he came out of that and when he went back in those missionary journeys, he understood things, and he had a spiritual power about him.

Solitude—a break from people—is very important in building up spiritual strength. It's important for each one of us and for different reasons and in different settings.

Sometimes when you're in ministry, you need to be aware that there are some VDP around—Very Draining People. And if you spend all your time with Very Draining People, you will be drained and will have nothing left to give. That's true in ministry. Sometimes when you're in church on Sunday and preaching, someone will come up to you afterward and say, "Pastor, I need to speak to you." And they are not going to be speaking to you about the latest ball game or sports competition or some other fun matter. When they say, "Pastor, I want to talk to you," they either have a weighty spiritual question or something they're really upset about, or some difficulty in their life, or something they're mad at you about, perhaps. But it's not usually going to be a nice, relaxing, refreshing conversation.

Because you're on. You're doing ministry. And ministry drains you. Sometimes it's not even very draining people; it's just being around all those people. You're serving them on that Sunday. And you should feel like power has gone out of you and like you've been drained. But then you need to spend some time either alone or with people who build you back up again. That’s what Jesus was doing with his disciples: “Okay, we've been around the crowds, we've done all this work, we're drained—let's go together with just us.”

That’s what God’s people are actually doing on Sunday quite often—getting away from the world, getting away from the busyness, and being with other people who can build each other’s energies again. And if you're a Christian leader, you sometimes need to get away from that group of people—even to be either by yourself with God, or with a few people who re-energize you.

This is true of moms. Moms are surrounded by very draining people. They’re called children. And sometimes moms need to get away from those kids. It’s not because they hate those kids—it’s because they need to get away from very draining people, have some time of solitude, time by themselves, time to be refreshed. You need a break from the people in your life who drain your energies.

A mom, for example, of little children may need to be by herself away from them a little bit. She may need her husband or some other adult to just get her away from there for a few hours, to have some adult conversation. Your spiritual health—and sometimes your mental and emotional health—are going to be built up by just taking a break from people.

Take a break from noise—that's what silence is. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him" (Psalm 62:5). "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him" (Habakkuk 2:20).

Sometimes in the Bible, that command to keep silence is coupled with a word of judgment. People don't know how to shut up. And the King is on his throne, and he's about to act. You people better quiet down! Other times, it just means: Listen. Listen for God. Close your mouth. Just be aware that God is.

The great philosopher Blaise Pascal has a statement that I often repeat. He said, "The problem with the world is that a man cannot sit quietly in a room by himself." To be able to just sit quietly, to be in God’s presence, to think about your own situation, about who you are—that's hard to do. We don't like silence.

I was in radio broadcasting for a lot of years. During one program, I was going to talk about the value of silence. So I told my producer, "Let's just take 30 seconds—you know, I'll say something, and then I’ll say, 'Now let's take the next 30 seconds just for silence.'" And he said, "We can't do that." I said, "Why not?" He said, "If we do that, all the radio stations have equipment that will detect a pause. And if there's a pause of more than five seconds or so of dead air, it will kick in with other programming. Because dead air is something you absolutely cannot have. It's got to be noise 24/7."

And that's kind of a parable of what our lives are like. You can't have 30 seconds of silence before something else is going to come and make it noisy again.

C.S. Lewis, when writing about the strategies of the devil and of the demons, spoke of Satan’s efforts to make everything the Kingdom of Noise—just noise, noise, noise, noise, noise, noise, noise.

We need silence. That's why sometimes a devotional time among Christians is called a "quiet time." It's a time to be still and not move. It's a time to be still and not talk. Take a break from noise. Be with God. And silence and solitude, of course, are disciplines that often go together—because it's hard to have much quiet when you're around a lot of other people. You need silence and solitude together.

And those often go together with the other major disciplines of prayer and Scripture—where you're quiet before the Lord, and then you're able to pray more effectively. There are times, of course, when you can pray on the go and pray when you're busy. But that time of silence is very important—where you can hear God’s voice and also find your own voice in speaking to him.

Secrecy is a break from publicity—just getting away from having to be "on." This is especially important for those who are spiritual leaders who are in public a lot. One of the hazards of being a pastor or somebody who’s up front is you’re pretty visible and you're pretty conscious of being visible. You wonder, "What do I look like? What do I sound like? What impression am I making?"

Because we’re in the public eye, and because people are looking at us, we need to discipline ourselves to take a break from that and to get away from being seen.

And all Christians—not just Christian leaders—need to realize that. Don’t do stuff just to impress others. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, that will be your reward, and you won’t have any reward coming from God" (Matthew 6:1).

He says, "When you give to the needy, don’t announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men... But when you give to the needy, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:2–4).

"And when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be honored by men. They’ve received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:5–6).

"And when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, because they disfigure their faces to show men they’re fasting. They look so sad and forlorn and gaunt so everybody will know they’re fasting and say, 'Oh, what a spiritual giant he is.' Jesus said, 'Don’t be like that. When you fast, wash your face. Put oil on your head. Put on some cologne. Make sure your hair looks great. Go out so nobody knows you’re fasting. Then your Father, who sees what’s done in secret, will reward you'" (Matthew 6:16–18).

A great deal of who you really are—who you are before God—is who you are when nobody is looking but God. And we, all of us who are believers, need that. Especially those of us who are pastors or spiritual leaders, who do so many things where we’re trying to affect somebody else, or we’re concerned what somebody else might be thinking of what we’re doing, and we lose track of God.

And so we need secrecy—just to stay focused on who really matters, and to keep our lives in tune with him. The fear of men and the desire to impress people is spiritually sickening—and it is fatal if we get stuck in that.

Fasting is a break from food. And there are different kinds of fasting, and fasting has different purposes. If you read the Bible, fasting has the purpose of strengthening and really focusing our prayers, intensifying our prayers. Fasting is often accompanied by deep repentance and is a way of expressing that repentance. Sometimes fasting comes when we’re really eager to get guidance from God on major decisions, and we don’t want to make that decision without really seeking God’s will with all our hearts and seeing if God wants to give us a nudge or a leading that will help make the matter more clear to us.

So we’ll fast and pray for his guidance and wisdom. Sometimes it comes during a time of crisis—where the people of Israel might fast when they were threatened by an enemy attack (2 Chronicles 20:3), or in your own life, when there’s a great illness, or a problem or an issue that your church might be facing, or someone you love is in jeopardy—either from the wiles of the devil or from some physical problem—and you fast because you’re really concerned about them. And so there are a variety of reasons for fasting.

The supreme one is simply that you’re hungry for God. And even though food is good—or even though some other thing is good—you’re going to give it up for a time to really focus on God and to show God: “Hey, I don’t live by bread alone—I live by you” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3).

In terms of approaches to fasting, a partial fast means you don’t give up all food, but maybe you give up a certain kind of food. You don’t eat any meat for a day or two, or you say, “I’m not going to have any treats for this particular period of time.” A modified fast might also include things that have nothing to do with food.

There are some people in particular medical circumstances who shouldn’t fast. A pregnant woman should be very cautious and probably not fast at all. Sometimes growing kids and teens shouldn’t be doing much fasting from food. But there may be things that they could fast from. I know a lot of teens who could do very well by fasting from a cell phone for a day or two—or fasting from computer games for a week. Things that aren’t evil, that aren’t bad, but that maybe get too much of a grip—and so you let go of it for a while for the purpose of focusing on God.

So there are other things you could fast from or take a break from besides food—but food is the one we’re talking about primarily here.

You might start by just skipping one meal. And use that time you skipped the meal to meditate and to think on God and to pray along with the Scriptures. You might also use the money you saved on a meal and contribute it to the poor. That’s something Christians used to do. They would sometimes just skip a meal because they were kind of poor, but if they skipped that meal, they could give it to somebody else. And then they’d still have enough if all they did was skip one meal for themselves—or the money they saved they might use as a contribution.

So you can skip one meal, and your main purpose is simply to let go of food and focus on your desire for God. But as a side benefit you say, “I’m going to use the time for God, and I’m going to use the money I saved for blessing God or blessing somebody else.”

A 24-hour fast basically means you skip two meals. So you might eat breakfast, then skip lunch and supper, and then have breakfast again the next morning. Or you might have your evening meal be the last meal you eat for a while, then go without eating for that evening and night, and not eat breakfast or lunch, and then eat again the next evening. So there’s a variety of 24-hour fasts.

A 36-hour fast just means you skip three meals—you don’t eat at all one day and then a night as well.

A longer fast might last 3 to 7 days. Be very cautious about these. If you have any kind of medical situations, you need to be aware of that before you undertake any kind of fasting—especially a longer one. So I want you to be aware of some wisdom in that area.

But whatever approach you take to fasting, just be aware that the first time you do it, it might not do anything for you except bother you. You might just feel hungry and a little bit grumpy and say, “Phew, glad that’s over.” That might be how your first fast turns out. That’s okay. Now you’ve learned something about yourself. You’ve learned that you’re mighty dependent on food—and you want it, and you want it right on schedule all the time.

That’s a good thing to learn about yourself. And now change that about yourself. Do without a meal. Do without another one next week. Learn to fast as a discipline of controlling your appetite and directing your appetite toward God.

And if you do it a number of times, you’ll find that the physical part of it isn’t as uncomfortable anymore—because you’re kind of used to it. And you’ll be able to more focus on the spiritual purposes of fasting.

Submission: you take a break from control. Now in one sense, we should be doing that all the time—where God is in control of the situation, not me. And somebody else’s concerns and desires matter, not just mine.

But a discipline of submission means: I’m going to go out of my way to be submissive. The Bible commands us, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). And sometimes we just need practice.

And so a discipline of submission might go something like this: Today I’m not going to do what I want in any case where somebody else wants something different—unless it would be sinful. So you say, “In any interaction I have with my wife today, I’m just going to do what she wants instead of insisting on what I want—unless she wanted something that was just dead evil. But if it’s just something that was her preference over mine, we’re going with her preference. If I go to work today and there was something that I could have a preference this way, or I could do it somebody else’s way—I’m going to do it their way, unless sin would be involved.”

You might do that for a whole day. It would not be a real easy thing, now would it? To go a whole day not insisting on what you wanted in any particular matter. Try it for a week. It might be hard. And it might be one of the most liberating things you’ve ever done—because submission brings freedom.

Because you know one of the hardest things in life? It is the disappointment of thinking you should always have your own way and not getting it. The problem is not that you don’t always get your own way—you won’t. The problem is you thought your happiness depended on getting your own way. And it doesn’t.

Submission, says Richard Foster, is “the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way.” Our lives will not come to an end if this or that does not happen. Just think back—there are some things you thought, “Oh man, I’m so mad that didn’t happen.” And later on, it turned out to be better for you that it didn’t happen.

I’ve had things related to my career, to major decisions, to things that people did to me—even things they did that were wrong—and it turned out that it was a good thing that had happened. But I’d get in all of a dither about it instead of submitting to God in situations where I didn’t like what happened. And in all cases that wouldn’t involve leading me into sin—submitting to other people, where they wanted something and I wanted something different.

Now this doesn’t mean that you go into permanent doormat mode and you always give other people their own way all the time. It means that as a discipline of submission, you set some periods where you’re just going to say “no” to yourself and “yes” to others—unless it involves sin.

And then you can get back to a more normal way of relating, where there’s some give and take in your relationship with your spouse, where you kind of negotiate and say, “Hey honey, do you mind doing this?” And you give your reasons for wanting that, and she gives her reasons for wanting that, and you find a good way to do it. But submission helps you to enter that kind of back-and-forth in a healthy manner—rather than “We’ve got to do it my way or all is ruined.”

Submission as a discipline will be one of the most liberating things that could happen in your life.

Sacrifice is a break from plenty. In some of our societies, we have gobs of stuff. We're wealthy—even when we think we aren't, we are. Others may have less, but sacrifice is giving till it hurts or doing something that costs us something. We didn’t have time for it, but we did it for somebody anyway because we cared.

The apostle Paul talks about the generosity of some people. He says, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2). That’s a strange sentence, isn’t it? Poverty welled up in rich generosity. They gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.

Now that’s sacrifice—giving what you're able to give, and then even more.

You remember Jesus’ story—well, it wasn’t even a story, it was a real-life happening. He was watching people give money, and some of the wealthy, prosperous people were putting in vast sums. Then he saw a poor widow toss in pennies, and he said, “See that? She gave more than all the rest because she gave everything she had, and they were just giving out of their extra” (Mark 12:41–44).

And God is so generous with us that when we’re disciplined givers, we can give out of our extra—and we usually have plenty. Many of us, if we tithed and gave 10%, we’d still have plenty from what God has given us. Because 90% of what God gives us is more than enough for what we need.

But even for those of us who’ve been given prosperity, to give more than we think we can afford for this or that is a good discipline. Because we don’t want to be cheap with God, and we don’t want money to get a grip on our hearts. So sometimes we give because we want to bless others and help them and honor God. Sometimes—you know what?—you need to give just for your own health, so that mammon, the love of money, doesn’t rule your life.

So take a break from plenty. Give more than you can afford once in a while, and be blessed as you see that happening.

Take a break. Rest is your break from busyness. Solitude—your break from people. Silence—your break from noise. Secrecy—your break from publicity. Fasting—your break from food. Submission—your break from control. And sacrifice—your break from plenty.

And as you take a break, you’re going to find some interesting things happening. When you rest, you’re going to find that you’re re-energized for work. You might think you’re getting less done by taking a break, but actually, you might get more done by resting.

There’s an old story about two people who were going to be in a wood-chopping contest. One of them chopped and chopped and chopped and chopped and chopped. The other one chopped a while, and then sat down and took a break. Then chopped a while, and sat down a while, and then chopped a while. And by the end of the day, he had chopped more wood than the other guy. The other guy said, “How in the world did you chop more wood than I did when you spent part of the time just sitting around and I was working the whole time?” And the man who rested said, “Well, two things—while I sat there, I got some rest and some energy, and I was sharpening my axe.”

When you sharpen your axe and when you get your energy, you can get more done than when you’re just worn down and never get sharp. So sharpen your axe. Re-energize yourself for work.

Solitude helps us actually to relate to others. Getting away from others makes us better people to be around when we are around others. Jesus went off by himself. His disciples and other great people of faith needed their solitude—but it also made them better at relating. If you don’t know how to be by yourself, if you always have to be in a crowd, then you really don’t know how to be yourself with others and to be your best self with them. Sometimes being by yourself helps you to relate to them in love and in wisdom when you’re back with them again.

Silence improves communication. If you don’t know how to shut up, you don’t know how to talk well. If you’re always running off at the mouth and you never know the value of not speaking and of being by yourself to think, then what comes out of your mouth isn’t all that helpful. But if you’re by yourself, and then you’re quiet, and you know how to turn it off and not say too much—then when you do speak, you have something worth saying and something worth hearing.

Secrecy helps your public life. If you’re always trying to impress people, you might impress them. Then again, you might not. Because after a while, they may see through you and say, “Oh, he’s just putting on a show. He’s trying to impress us, but we know what he’s like in private. He’s just not that way.” Or you just come across as feeling phony.

But if you are genuinely a kind, caring person—helping others, loving them, doing the right thing when nobody’s looking—then when you actually are in public, your light is shining before people without even trying to show off. And Jesus’ light is shining through you because you’re the same person in secret as you are in public.

Fasting—it’ll enrich your feasting. For one thing, after a time of fasting, that food tastes mighty fine. As the Bible says, “To the hungry man, every bitter thing is sweet” (Proverbs 27:7). Even stuff that isn’t so tasty tastes mighty good if you’re hungry enough. So fasting can enrich your enjoyment of food, of course.

But I mean more than that. Fasting—when you learn to control your appetites—then you can also enjoy it when you feast your appetites in God-given ways. When you’re always living for pleasure, it becomes a lot less pleasurable than when you know how to deny yourself pleasure and then take pleasure too as God’s good gift.

Submission builds boldness. That again may sound like a contradiction—but submission makes you bolder. Because you see, there’s a difference between real boldness and being a control freak or a self-centered pig who always has to have your way. That’s not boldness. That’s just being someone who always wants to get what they want.

Submission, on the other hand—when you say, “You know what? I’m going to give other people their way for a period of time—unless it would require me actually to sin. I’m just going to let them have their way.” You start thinking through: What is a sin? What’s not a sin? How much of what I do is just driven by my cravings and my desires rather than what’s right?

And as you sort that out, you say, “Man, I can give in on a lot of things. And there are some things that I must not give in on—because God has spoken, and God calls me to do this.” And then you are bold in the battles that really matter. And you don’t pick fights that don’t matter.

So submission builds boldness in fighting for the things that really matter.

And sacrifice—when you give more than you can afford, you find tremendous satisfaction in saying, “You know what? I gave more than I thought I could afford, and God is providing. And he’s providing me with joy just in the act of giving. And he’s providing me with all that I need anyway.”

And you’ll find your spiritual life being refreshed.

So taking a break resets your life. It renews your energies in all of these wonderful ways. Disciplines of abstinence may sound not fun and intimidating, but when you find out what’s really involved, this can be so vital for your spiritual fitness and for your overall flourishing.

And remember what it’s all about—whether it’s these disciplines we’ve just talked about or the primary disciplines of prayer and Bible reading or other practices that you put as part of your walk with God. The key is this:

“Train yourself for godliness. Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7–8).

You want to grow in godliness so you can resist the devil and make him flee, and so that you can come near to God and have him come near to you (James 4:7–8).

As you grow in godliness, you’re growing closer to Jesus in experience. You’re experiencing more and more of the Savior and of his Holy Spirit at work in your life—experiencing more and more of God as your Father. Your character is being changed, and you become more like the Lord Jesus Christ in his character. And you become more like him in the impact that you have on others.

That’s why we want to practice spiritual disciplines and spiritual fitness—not just so we can feel like we’re ever so holy and important, but so that we grow in true godliness: a deeper and closer connection to Jesus, a greater resemblance to who he is and his holy character, and an impact where Jesus is really affecting others through the work that he’s doing in us.

 

 

Take A Break
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

Busy with ministry

Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two… They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. (Mark 6:7-13)

Take a break

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (Mark 6:30-32)

Take a break

• Rest: break from busyness
• Solitude: break from people
• Silence: break from noise
• Secrecy: break from publicity
• Fasting: break from food
• Submission: break from control
• Sacrifice: break from plenty

Rest: Break from busyness

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. (Ex 34:21)

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. (Is 30:15)

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31)

 

Solitude: Break from people

• Moses: forty years in desert; forty days with God on Mount Sinai
• John the Baptist: desert dweller
• Jesus: forty days in the wilderness; often withdrew to desolate places
• Paul: up to three years in Arabia

Silence: Break from noise

Be still, and know that I am God. (Ps 46:10)

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. (Psalm 62:5)

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. (Hab 2:20)

Secrecy: Break from publicity

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them… when you give to the needy… when you pray… when you fast… your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-18)

Fasting: Break from food

• Partial fast: give up meats or treats for a period of time
• Skip one meal: use time to meditate and pray with Scripture
• 24-hour fast: skip two meals
• 36-hour fast: skip three meals
• Longer fast: three to seven days

Submission: Break from control

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Submission brings freedom: “It is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way… Our lives will not come to an end if this or that does not happen.” (Richard Foster)

Sacrifice: Break from plenty

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity… they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. (2 Corinthians 8:2-3)

Take a break

• Rest: break from busyness
• Solitude: break from people
• Silence: break from noise
• Secrecy: break from publicity
• Fasting: break from food
• Submission: break from control
• Sacrifice: break from plenty

Break resets and renews

• Rest reenergizes for work.
• Solitude helps relate to others.
• Silence improves communication.
• Secrecy enhances public witness.
• Fasting enriches feasting.
• Submission builds boldness.
• Sacrifice increases satisfaction.

Growing in godliness

Train yourself for godliness… godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Tim 6:7-8)

• Growing closer to Christ in experience
• Growing like Christ in holy character
• Growing like Christ in eternal impact