Instead He says, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (v.31). Jesus invites His disciples to stop, sit, be still and be renewed. I can’t say with certainty, but I can imagine He whispers this invitation to them with a hand on their shoulders as the sadness and gravity of John’s death begins to steal their joy and excitement over all they’ve been able to see and accomplish. In His tenderness He says to them, come with me…let’s go take a break.
I recently heard a very wise woman describe this as “strategic withdrawal”—meaning it’s on purpose and with purpose. The quiet and the rest are strategic, not pointless. They are achieving something deeply profound and important, not simply wasting time and being unproductive.
Jesus made this a central component of his ministry. He’s sleeping in the stern of a boat while a storm rages around Him along with the fears of all those on board. He goes off by Himself—all night—to pray to the Father as the dawn of His death loomed heavy. Luke 15:16 says it most clearly and succinctly—“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” His life and ministry were marked by seasons of intensity and activity punctuated by moments of rest and renewal. Early on in ministry my dad poignantly asked me, “How arrogant are you to think that if you weren’t around for a while the whole thing would fall apart?” Ouch, thanks Dad. Add to that the fact that Jesus Himself, the One who does hold all things together, felt it necessary and appropriate to “not be around” sometimes, then maybe I can (and should) too.
INTERVAL TRAINING
While every illustration breaks down eventually, perhaps ministry could be better described as a consistent and patterned regiment of “interval training.” In this type of training we push our bodies for specific periods of time (intervals) and then give our them patterned and ritualed periods of rest and renewal. In the immediate it could be the rhythm of 60 seconds of sprinting followed by 30 seconds of walking then a spurt of jogging followed by walking, then sprinting, repeat cycle, for example. On a broader scale it could be weeks or months of specific and focused training for an event or a desired weight loss goal, followed by a season of maintenance, refreshment and rejuvenation. Whatever the balance may be, the goal is sustainability—positioning ourselves for the long-haul—not just speed. This certainly does not mean that in those “strategic withdrawal” seasons of rest and renewal we abandon our commitment to a goal, it simply means we begin to understand rest not as a non-productive hindrance to the more important work, but instead as a crucial and essential component to the long-term sustainability of our work. Rest IS important work. Jesus seemed to think so.
ALSO: THREE WAYS WE MUST “GET OVER” CHURCH PLANTING.
Research shows that building in patterns of “breaks” throughout our days every 90-120 minutes increases energy, focus and ultimately productivity. This is the equivalent of getting up from your desk every couple hours and climbing a few flights of stairs in your office building to get the blood flowing and heart rate up a bit, or grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a walk outside around your block or building to get some sunshine and fresh air. Maybe it’s following an especially long and intense meeting with something that gives your mind a break from the hard and heavy—like listening to your favorite song, calling a friend or your spouse, reading another chapter in the book you’re engrossed in, etc.
