“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

There was a time when our vacations were so packed with frenetic activity that we would come back exhausted needing more time off to recuperate from the vacation!

We would make a mad dash from one “Top 10 attraction” to another, ensuring that all of them were included in our itinerary.

We have since wised up considerably and now take at least two consecutive days in a week of holidays to simply rest, relax, read, reflect and re-create, preferably beside a body of water. What a difference this makes when we return refreshed to face the demands of daily living!

Do we need to wait for an extended vacation to experience restful recreation? Of course not!

Jesus models a lifestyle that makes room for periods of rest on a more frequent basis.

In Luke 4:33-42, we see details of a day of ministry in Capernaum. He teaches in the synagogue, casts out an unclean spirit, heals Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever, and, that same evening, lays hands on everyone who was brought to him “sick with various diseases” and then drives out more demons.

I get tired just reading about how busy his day was!

But notice what he does following a few hours of sleep. “Jesus left and went to a secluded place.” The parallel passage in Mark 1:35 reads: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

It has been suggested by scholars that this description of Jesus’ disciplined departure to a deserted place was not just a one-time event that happened on that particular day only, but a daily detail in his Day-timer.

Whether he spent this time simply resting (as Luke implies) or in prayer (as Mark amplifies), it was something he valued so much as to make it an integral part of daily living.

Jesus wanted his first followers to learn this important aspect of ministry right off the bat. When they returned from a successful mission trip He said to them, “Come you yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31)

Perhaps we should not be surprised at the value Jesus placed upon rest. He was simply reflecting his Father, who rested on the seventh day following the six days of Creation (Genesis 2:2) and commanded His people to rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9).

In addition to incorporating periods of purposeful rest into our vacation schedule, Sulojana and I have been setting aside a block of time every day where we simply rest—sometimes with reflective music playing in the background (Soaking) or in total stillness.

What a difference this time of rest makes! We are more productive, more sensitive to the voice of God and more responsive to the needs of others, especially each other.

When one of us gets cranky with the other, we can usually trace it back to a lack of quiet rest in our Father’s arms.  There is an uncanny correlation between how well we retreat and how well we treat one another.

On the road to destiny, we would do well to make time for planned periods of rest and prayer as Jesus did.

For when we heed his call to “come apart”, we are less likely to fall apart!