Taking a Needed Break

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He has purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

Larry Hunter is going to minister for me today (I’ll be there). Larry and Deborah will be moving to Brazil towards the end of January and will be establishing an extension of Living Water Teaching there. Victory Fellowship will be supporting Larry and Deborah on a monthly basis.

I’m having Larry ministry so that I could take somewhat of a break this week from my normal routine. All of us must have times of rest if we’re going to be at our best. Often, ministers are the worst to just go and go without taking time to be refreshed. Quality and perhaps length of life is affected if we do not allow for periods of rest from the normal demands of life.

In the above verse, Paul encouraged ministers in Ephesus to take care of themselves first so that they could talk care of God’s people. Here are a few quotes from Charles Hadden Spurgeon from his book Lectures to my students on the subject of taking time to rest:

“The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking. Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body... Even the earth must lie fallow and have her Sabbaths, and so must we…Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength…A little pause prepares the mind for greater service in the good cause…Fisherman must mend their nets, and we must every now and then repair our mental waste and get our machinery in order for future service…To tug the oar from day to day like a galley slave who knows no holidays, suits no mortal man…Millstreams go on forever, but we must have our pauses and intervals…Who can help but be out of breath when the race is continued without intermission…Even beasts of burden must be turned out to grass occasionally; the sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of wintry months; and a man, when exalted to God’s ambassador, must rest or faint; must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vigor or grow prematurely old…It is wisdom to take an occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall sometimes do more by doing less…On, on, on forever may suit our spirits emancipated from this heavy clay, but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure…Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while, but learn from the experience of others the necessity and duty of taking timely rest.”