When Rest Restores the Joy of Work
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” — Psalm 127:2 (ESV)
I like my work. That’s a blessing I don’t take for granted. It’s satisfying and even energizing at times. However, this also makes stopping hard. Rest can then seem like a limitation to that enjoyment, can’t it?
But it’s important to not see them as opposing forces. God wove both into the rhythm of creation. Each gives meaning to the other—work expressing worship, rest renewing it. Learning to see them in light of each other helps us to appreciate them both.
Things go wrong when we elevate or emphasize one over the other instead of appreciating the rhythm of work and rest God has instituted. Our work was never meant to steal our joy or our identity; it was meant to be an act of worship. And rest was never meant to be an escape from work, but a rhythm that renews it.
Recovering a vision for each of these can help us to appreciate how both are important facets of walking in faith. As we spend much time encouraging and exploring the gift of rest, let’s spend some time also recovering a vision for work as God intended it.
Work: God’s Good Design
Work is good because God Himself works. He is always working, orchestrating all things in this world according to His will and in our lives (John 5:17; Rom. 8:28; Phil. 2:13).
In fact, from the first pages of Genesis, we see God working—forming, filling, and calling it good. As His image-bearers, Adam and Eve were to continue His creative work, tending the garden and cultivating His good world (Gen. 1:28). Work was a means of participating in God’s creative order—a joyful stewardship of His good world. It was dignifying, purposeful, and life-giving.
Isn’t that remarkable? Every day of hard work honors Him when we do all for His glory. Whether we work on a project or a sermon, do tasks no one sees or stand on a public stage, it doesn’t matter. Even if we feel tired after a long day of work, we are given an opportunity to taste His goodness as we labor in communion with Him.
How Sin Distorts Work
Yet despite it’s goodness, the sin that still remains in us can subtly twist work into an idol, even if we are serving Him in ministry. Here are some ways this can happen and how we can respond biblically:
1. From Worship to Worth: The Idolatry of Achievement
Work was meant to be an act of worship, a joyful participation in God’s care of creation. But sin turns worship into a form of self-validation, where we begin to tie our worth to what we accomplish. Our identity is tied to our productivity, with our security (or anxiety) rising and falling accordingly.
But if Christ’s finished work, not our output, defines our worth, we can rest. Even if we do not finish our tasks, He has finished His. Because this task is completed for all time, this puts our work in perspective. His accomplishments means that our position is secure before God, regardless of whether we achieve what we desire.
2. From Stewardship to Sovereignty: The Illusion of Control
God invites us to partner with Him, not replace Him. But sin convinces us that everything depends on us: our diligence, our strategy, our leadership. We worry that if we stop, the world, or our ministry, will crumble. As Psalm 127:2 describes, we burn the candle at both ends, trying to maximize our waking hours, as if it all depends on us.
But if we are willing to humbly accept the limits of our humanity, then even going to bed each night can be a way we take a stand against our self-sufficiency. Each night when we lay our work down, we declare again: it is God, not us, who upholds all things by His word (Heb. 1:3). In this way, even sleep becomes an act of trust.
3. From Calling to Control: The Burden of a Messiah Complex
We love our people deeply. We can’t bear to leave them uncared for. But sadly, sin can distort even our noblest desires. We overwork, refusing to stop and live as if God’s care depends on our constancy rather than His. In this way, our compassion crosses into unbelief as we try to carry burdens only Christ can bear.
However, if we think about it, even Jesus stepped away, leaving needs unmet, in order to pray and rest (Mark 1:35–38). Like Him, intentionally stepping away from our tasks to rest is an act of trust, reminding us that we are stewards of the work God has given us, not the savior of it.
4. From Delight to Duty: The Loss of Joy
Because of sin, what was meant to be delightful has become drudgery. Thorns and thistles intrude, hinder, or derail our best efforts. We feel discouraged even though we’re working hard, draining joy from our labors.
Though we are not to find our ultimate joy in our work, the impact of sin does touch our lives. Rest then, is a gift from God, allowing us some respite from the frustrations that come from our work. It is not a reward for our efforts but a rhythm of grace that God gives us to hearten us and help us take up that work again each week.
5. From Reverence to Reluctance: Seeing Rest as the Enemy
For those of us shaped by strong work ethics, rest can feel lazy or wasteful. Sin distorts our understanding of rest, making it feel suspect, like an indulgence. It makes us forget that rest is also holy, not a sign of faithlessness.
Rest is not an indulgence but an act of worship (Ex. 20:8–11). When we pause to rest, whether it be daily, weekly, or a longer sabbatical, we give our hearts a chance to be reordered. By humbly accepting this gift of rest, we proclaim that it is God who sustains the world, not us. Nonstop work not only steals our joy but turns God’s good blessings into burdens. Rest renews our joy so we can once again delight in God and His work. It’s not a luxury but a rhythm of grace that restores perspective.
Putting It Together
Each of these distortions—whether achievement, control, or joyless striving—shows how sin twists good gifts. But when God saves us from the power of sin, He also begins to correct our false beliefs about work. If we humble ourselves and allow the Spirit to teach us, He uses the rest we take to challenge the ways we idolize our work or worship it, believing it will satisfy us.
So take a moment and reflect on the good work God has called you to do. Whether you are a parent at home or a preacher in the pulpit makes no difference. Whatever we do, we want to do it with all our might, for His glory, to please Him (Col. 3:17, 23-24). Each of us has a role to play in His kingdom, so let us seek to glorify Him in it!
But at the same time, we must also humbly admit our tendency to view our work wrongly. Which of these distortions most reflect you? How does the finished work of Christ impact how you view your work? How does overlaying the gospel over your work help shift it back to an act of worship? How does taking time to rest—whether to replenish, celebrate, or reorient—help you to get back to work with renewed vigor and endurance?
A Special Word for Ministry Leaders
At OakHaven Ministries, our desire is to help ministry leaders endure. We care about your work. Our desire is to see the church flourish and grow under the hands of godly, wise, and rested leaders. While it’s important to work well, it is also important to rest well. And we want to help you grow in this.
Start by developing your own rhythm of work and rest in tandem. Check out the mini-retreats on this blog for various topics to guide your time. If you find it difficult to do this alone and need the accountability, consider finding a friend to practice this with you. Our ministry would be glad to help you get started if you’d like to do this as a staff team. (Select “Ministry Team Retreats” to let us know!)
Lastly, if you are anticipating a longer season of rest through a sabbatical, we would love to walk with you to intentionally plan one that would best suit your needs and allow you to return back to your work or ministry renewed. You can read about our sabbatical services on our Equipping page, and if interested, complete the Assessment to communicate your interest.
Work and rest are not opposites but partners in grace. Most of life will be spent working, but rest—woven between our labors—helps us work with worshipful hearts.