I woke up at 5am on a Saturday and couldn’t get back to sleep.

I didn’t know it, but I was stressed.

I had so much on my plate.

So many projects converging at the same time,
so many to do’s that had been piling up,
and so little margin to get them done.

It was still dark out on a Saturday. I should be sleeping in but the mental “work-switch” had already been turned on and once it goes on, there’s no turning it off.

When I get in these modes, I become consumed with and driven by my “to do’s”. I may not be working all the time, but I’m always thinking about it.

Sometimes stress causes me to slip into these modes.

Sometimes work is going so well and I’m crushing it; it’s an addiction I can’t stop.

Pulling up the laptop on weekends, on vacation, in evenings and early mornings. Checking my phone every chance I get, including long stints in the bathroom to reply to a few more messages.

My wife tells me to put a few of these projects off, focus on 1-2 of them, and move the rest to some other point in the year.

However, the thought of pushing back my self-imposed deadlines feels lazy, feels like an excuse, it feels irresponsible.

So, I keep moving at lightspeed. Ignoring the truth I’ve hidden deep inside – I’m TIRED.

What’s the cost of all this?

Your family gets a hollowed-out version of you.

Employees and clients are only seen as useful if they help you accomplish YOUR agenda.

Interruptions are annoyances, getting the way of your to do list.

You go throughout your day an emotional zombie, totally disconnected from others, never really present mentally where you are physically.

You’re even experiencing physical symptoms because of the stress you’re suppressing.

Is this the abundant life Jesus promises us in John 14?

What’s the lie we’re believing that’s causing us to live like this?

“If I can just get all this done, then I can rest.”

We have it backwards.

Yes, we have responsibilities and work needs to get done.

But rest is not a reward for completing all your work,

 it’s a command from the One Who has already promised to provide.

The world isn’t resting on your shoulders.

It doesn’t all depend on you.

You are not in control. Never have been.

Lay it down at the feet of the One Who is.

When you no longer take on the weight that comes from assuming the “owner” role in your business and you embrace being a steward entrusted with God’s business, you will work hard without grinding yourself into the ground.