Embracing Unhurried Ways: Discerning True Rest from Counterfeit
Feb 07, 2024
Blog by Alan Fadling
They say that authors often write books that they themselves need. That has certainly been true when it comes to what I have written about Jesus’ rhythms of work and rest. I have a deep-seated efficiency and productivity engine inside me.
While this has often served me well in my work, it has also gotten in the way when it comes to entering into God’s gift of rest for me. It still feels like a discipline to stop producing and to simply embrace rest. When I do, I experience the grace and kindness of God. But it’s still often a challenge. I’ll share more about this in a moment.
Before I say more about counterfeit rest, it might help to say a few things about the theme of true rest. What is it? How do you know if you’ve rested? I like to think of true rest in terms of a series of “RE” words. Words like…
Refreshing, renewing, and restoring.
Or refilling, reviving, and reconnecting.
Counterfeits of true rest do not produce this fruit in our lives.
- Instead of refreshing us, false rest becomes rather stale.
- Instead of renewing us, false rest leaves us stuck in old patterns.
- Instead of restoring us, false rest leaves old brokenness unhealed.
- Instead of refilling us, false rest has a way of actually draining us.
- Instead of reviving us, false rest can leave us feeling dead inside.
- Instead of reconnecting us, false rest leaves us isolated and disconnected.
This is what counterfeit rest produces. At best, counterfeit rest leaves us as tired as we were before. At worst, it leaves us even more tired.
Now, in talking about counterfeit rest, let me share a quick word about the nature of counterfeits. Counterfeits make sense according to the value of what is being imitated. For example, when have you ever heard about a counterfeit ring producing fake one-dollar bills? Never. But what about counterfeit hundred-dollar bills? Those are valuable enough that it’s worth attempting to produce a counterfeit.
The reason rest is counterfeited is that rest is of great worth. Rest is a beautiful gift from God. It is a kind of Garden of Eden that God regularly invites us into. Rest is counterfeited because it is a deep and universal human hunger. Rest is valuable! Rest is a home for our soul, even in the midst of our busiest work seasons.
How then do we learn to resist the enticing cry of these counterfeit calls to rest? I’ve said before that it requires effort to enter into God’s gift of rest. What does that effort look like?
One of the main efforts required to enter into God’s gift of rest is the willingness to offer a firm, simple “no” to the strategies of false rest that have become habits for us. We may need the help of a friend or a small group to let our “no” remain a no so our “yes” to God’s gift of rest can grow into a strong one. We can bring our sometimes unacknowledged thirst for true rest into the restful presence of God. Our souls actually want to rest. That is how God made them.
Many years ago, during my first eight-day retreat at the Campion Center in the western suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, I was introduced to a simple yet profound spiritual exercise. I was invited to ask the question “What do I really want?” I was being invited to reflect on what was life-giving and what was life-draining in my experience.
At the time, some of the desires that arose in me were mundane and unimpressive. I wanted pizza because I was bored with the cafeteria menu. I wanted to be back in California because I missed Gem, my home, and my own bed. But I also became aware of deeper desires that bubbled up as I lingered with this exercise. I wanted to help people see and follow the unhurried ways of Jesus. That idea eventually became my first book.
In this spirit, I recommend trying a version of this exercise when it comes to work and rest. The four questions you might ask yourself are:
- What is life-giving in my work?
- What is life-draining in my work?
- What is life-giving in my rest?
- What is life-draining in my rest?
That last question could expose habits of counterfeit rest that, instead of refreshing and renewing us, are keeping us stuck in unhealthy habits of restlessness and weariness.
There are ways we seek rest that instead drain us. Counterfeit rest makes sparkly promises that in the end it cannot keep. Real rest tends to be more unassuming and at the same time more effective.
For Reflection:
Why not revisit the four questions I mentioned about what might be life-giving or life-draining in your work or your rest? What insights do you gain in this? Is there an invitation in this to which you’d like to respond?
