Get to Work Resting in Christ
Why Sabbath is Gospel Strategy, Not Lazy Sunday
Who’s Tired Up in Here?
The Church doesn’t talk enough about rest. And not just the kind where you binge-watch shows until your brain goes numb. I’m talking about soul rest, the kind that quiets your striving, resets your identity, and roots your heart back in the finished work of Christ.
Who among us isn’t feeling the weight of overwork? Especially you, young preachers, eager to make a difference but finding yourselves burnt out and overbooked. I see you, and I’m here to offer a way out.
I know the pressures. Sermons don’t write themselves. Church drama multiplies. Ministry can become a treadmill where you’re doing God’s work but running on fumes. The pull to perform is real. The grind doesn’t stop. And you wonder, “Can I really keep this up?”
Yes, you can, but only if you rest. You cannot do it without building your ministry on the rhythm God Himself created. That’s precisely why we’re gathered here today: to talk about gospel rest, to lean into Sabbath rhythms, and to remember that finishing well requires learning how to slow down.
Kevin DeYoung rightly says,
“The secret of the gospel is that we actually do more when we hear less about all we need to do for God and hear more about all that God has already done for us.”1
When I Had to Crash to Learn to Rest
I once mentored a young preacher who was gifted, passionate, and busy. Every week, he called me, rattling off his schedule as if he were applying for a promotion: three Bible studies, a podcast, hospital visits, two sermon series, and a social media devotional drop. He wore busyness like a badge of honor. Seemingly finding his identity and worth in ministry activity.
However, what he did not realize was that he was engaging in ministry activities with ministry productivity. I’ve been there too, caught up in the whirlwind of ministry, feeling the pressure to perform and produce. But I’ve also experienced the freedom and joy that comes from embracing Sabbath rest.
Until the crash came.
He called me, voice hollow. “OG, I don’t feel anything anymore—not even when I preach.”
Burnout isn’t just exhaustion; it’s spiritual malnourishment dressed up as productivity. And the Spirit was convicting him: You’ve been trying to carry a cross Jesus already carried.
Remember, God didn’t rest on the seventh day because He was tired. He rested to show you something—to teach you that your worth is in being His, not in being useful. This is the transformative power of rest, and it’s within your reach.
Genesis 2 and Gospel Rest
Genesis 2:1–3
“So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed His work that He had done, and He rested… God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy.”
Let’s be clear: God wasn’t tired. The Hebrew word for ‘rested’ (שָׁבַת, shabat) is less about recovery and more about satisfaction. He stepped back, looked at creation, and delighted in it. This is the foundation of rest we can all stand on.
So why does that matter to preachers?
Because if God, who needs nothing modeled rest, how dare we hustle without pause?
Rest is not just physical. It’s a spiritual posture. It’s an act of worshipful trust. And Romans 12:1 calls us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices—which means even our rest should be surrendered to God.
Hebrews 4:9–11 deepens this:
“Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people… Let us then make every effort to enter that rest.”
That means rest is not just ancient wisdom, it’s present obedience and future promise.
Why We Resist Rest
Let’s be real.
We don’t rest well because we don’t trust well.
We think taking a day off means falling behind. We think slower means smaller impact. But in ministry, speed kills and silence heals. Where I have miserably failed in obeying God’s command to rest in him came from my sinful posture and position of determinism.
In the context of overworking in ministry, determinism refers to the false belief that outcomes in the church are solely dependent on the pastor’s unceasing effort—functionally replacing God’s sovereignty with human striving. This mindset subtly dethrones grace and enthrones self-reliance.
Paul Tripp says,
“This is what sin does to us all… It replaces faith with self-reliance. It replaces vertical joy with horizontal envy. It replaces a rest in God’s sovereignty with a quest for personal control.”2
Scripture offers a stark rebuke of our bootleg false rest: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”3 Jesus Himself rested, modeling Sabbath for weary disciples and Paul reminds us that “God gives the growth.”4
Secular science echoes this. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman notes that “chronic stress and sleep deprivation compromise cognition and judgment,”5 undermining the very effectiveness pastors idolize through overwork.
This is why we often find ourselves running on fumes. We’ve confused fruitfulness with franticness and faithfulness with fatigue. And God has been known to take away ministry and ministry opportunities from a Preacher to break him from his sinful disobedience to resting. YPs, God will sometimes pull you out of your grind to lovingly remind you of the One who actually holds this thing together. (Spoiler Alert: It’s not you.)
When we don’t find our rest in Christ’s finished work, it is as if we are saying to God, “If I take a day off, the church falls apart.” Preachers wouldn’t actually say this out loud; however, subconsciously and by their sinful non-rest activity, sadly, they live it out in their ministry and personal lives.
Rhythms for Rest
So what does this look like in real life?
Here are some practical patterns that flow from the Genesis–to–Gospel rhythm:
Weekly Sabbath (Set It Aside)
Pick one day. Shut it down. Preach to your calendar: God is the one who runs the universe. You are not Him.
No sermon writing. No strategic meetings. Just worship, family, and soul-resetting rhythms. Rest is received, not earned.
Sabbath Worship (Refocus Your Soul)
Sabbath is about delight.
Rejoice in Christ. Sing slow songs.
Linger in Scripture. Let the Lord renew you.
Let ministry not just be your job—but your joy.
Digital Detox (Silence the Noise)
Rest your soul by cutting off the algorithms.
Take a break from your notifications and remind your heart who owns your attention.
Vulnerable Fellowship (Sabbath in Community)
Sabbath isn’t isolation; instead, it’s an invitation.
Call up your bros. Sit around a fire pit. Be honest.
Confess weariness. Confess sin. Speak life.
Let your sabbath restore your connection to the Body.
Preach from Rest (Not to Earn Rest)
Don’t preach for rest, but preach from rest.
When you’ve been with Jesus, you preach like it.
Jesus Is Our Rest
Jesus is not just our teacher of rest, He is our rest.
He rested in the grave after declaring, “It is finished.”
Now, in Him, we don’t work for peace. We work from peace. We don’t perform for identity. We preach from our identity in Christ. We don’t grind for grace. We rest in grace.
Matthew 11:28–30:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… You will find rest for your souls.”
YP’s, Rest Like You Believe the Gospel
So get to work, resting in Christ.
Kevin DeYoung, On Mission, Changing the World, and Not Being Able to Do It All, The Gospel Coalition, August 25, 2009
Tripp, Paul David. Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020),
Psalm 127:1 CSB
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 CSB
https://ai.hubermanlab.com/s/ZlPcy2l-
Thanks for this, Prez.