Work-life balance is an ideal that many of us struggle to reach, myself included, but balancing rest and work is something we have been called to since the beginning of time. How can we cultivate the garden of our life while balancing both?
“We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.”
– Voltaire, French writer and philosopher
A quote from Voltaire, the French Enlightenment writer who was a vocal critic of Christianity, may seem like a strange place to start. But when I read this, I thought how it doesn’t contradict the Bible’s stance on work and rest. In fact, it supports it.
Man was not born to rest. In Genesis 2:15, it states that “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” It was a garden and he was meant to cultivate it.
If we extend the garden idea to encompass our lives, then you can see how we are meant to cultivate it. From the environment (our home) to the other inhabitants (our family and friends) and what we are meant to grow (hearts and souls), it’s obvious there is a lot to do.
But just as we are not born to rest, we are not born to work. We were meant to live in a balance of the two. God exemplified this with his own rest on the seventh day. Not because He was exhausted from, oh, you know, creating the world. He did it as proof that we are meant to take a break from work to properly rest, reflect, and glorify Him.
Sabbath rest is not just a suggestion, but a command. It’s detailed well in Exodus and makes the ultimate top 10 list. So why is it so hard for us to create a work-life balance in our own gardens?
Work and rest in the garden of life
Balance is harder than it sounds. Have you watched a tightrope walker? Sure, they make it look easy and do it with confidence, but that’s because they’ve put in thousands of hours of practice. And there’s a net.
We, too, need to put in hours upon hours of practice. Our lives are busy and full, making it seem as though everything would come crashing down if we took a day off. Or we’d have an epic case of FOMO.
But it really wouldn’t. The world would continue to spin, our obligations would still be waiting for us on Monday, and we would have gained the rest and perspective needed to view our life in a fresh and faith-focused way.
We can balance the rest and work in our garden with confidence because we have a net, too. We have God. He is always watching us, guiding us, and blessing us with good things. They don’t come just from our hard work. Those blessings are a gift from Him when we trust Him to catch us when we fall.
We were not made to rest. Nor were we made to work. God made us to do both – in communion with Him. Won’t you spend today practicing your balance with his guiding hand?
Have a blessed Monday!
Looking for more encouragement and inspiration today? Try these posts:
How to Take a Sabbath day… and Why
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