The Lord is Our Refuge, which we forget about.

 The story of a big companies executive buying a vacation home and never using it is nearly a proverb. They have a retreat, a place to go to, and then rarely use it. How could such a thing happen? The answer is they are too busy. Taking time to rest isn't high on their priorities. Besides, what would the board of directors say if he actually took his six weeks of vacation and wasn't available?  Forget the board of directors, what would you think?

I'm going to make an observation, we don't make heroes of those who take a lot of time off. Yet we see God instructing people to take one day off a week doing nothing. We see loads of special holidays where celebrating and resting were encouraged. He also told them to rest the land for one year out of seven, for farmers that meant a lot of time off.  Jesus often, and I mean a lot, took his disciples away from the crowds to rest. Yet, a pastor taking weeks away during the year and being unavailable at least one day a week would be considered unacceptable. 

Over and over in the Psalms and throughout the Bible the Lord is called our refuge or high tower. A refuge is not a place to attack from, it is a place of defense. it is a place of safety. We sing about God being our refuge and yet rarely do we go to him and rest. Let's be honest and say if we see someone resting a lot we call them lazy rather than faithful. 

Understand I'm not encouraging people to sit back and doing nothing. I do think we work and rest as if what is happening in the world or in our churches depends on us more than God. Reflect on this, I know I am.