Death by overwork. It sounds funny, doesn’t it? The thing is, it’s actually true! The term “Karoshi” is a Japanese word meaning, “death by overwork.”
Traced back to the aftermath of World War II, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was determined to make the rebuilding of Japan’s economy his number one priority. He did this by strongly encouraging Japanese corporations to offer lifetime job security and asking their employees for loyalty in return. It propelled Japan into the world’s third largest economy today, but it came at a cost. Only a decade after this initiative began, workers from Japan began committing suicide and experiencing strokes and heart failure. The cases were known as “occupational sudden death.” One such case happened in 2013 when journalist Miwa Sado of news network NHK allegedly logged 159 hours of overtime in one month and died of heart failure not long after.
Maybe you’re not working 159 hours of overtime in month, but chances are you are too busy, and it may literally be killing you.
True rest is something that we all desperately need but many of us can’t seem to find. By rest, I don’t necessarily mean sleep or down time, although that is important. The rest I’m referring to is rest for our souls. In the words of the early church father, Augustine of Hippo, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Because true rest can only be found in a relationship with God.
Since 2014, God has been teaching me about rest. I want to share with you some of what I have learned and take a journey together toward finding true rest.
My Burnout
Here is how it began. In 2009 my family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to start Journey Church. After four years of intense building, God began to lead us on a path to do a launch (similar to a grand opening). Requiring both laser-like focus and intense effort, it was very exciting but also extremely time consuming. In addition to loving my wife, parenting three young children, pastoring the people of Journey Church, and holding down a part-time job as an urban youth worker to make ends meet, we were now attempting this major public launch. Of course we had an awesome team of people helping to pull it off, but there were still responsibilities that could not be delegated. Looking back, I am not sure how we did it. It was only by the grace of God.
During that process, rest was something I learned to fight for. Unnecessary things had to be eliminated in order to concentrate on the things that were most important – my spiritual life, my wife and children, the people of the church, the launch, and my job. During that season, I experienced many sleepless nights, times of crippling anxiety, and days when I could not find rest. Yet through it all, though it would have been easy to come apart at the seams, God sustained me and taught me more about rest than I ever thought possible. I’m still on the journey, learning every day, but these precious truths will remain with me for the rest of my life.
Find Your Rhythm of Rest
If you feel stressed out, anxious, sleep-deprived, overburdened, burnt out, on the edge of a breakdown, or no matter how much you “rest” you still don’t feel refreshed, then this series is for you. If on the other hand you have a great rhythm of rest, this will still be a great encouragement to you, and you might even learn something new to deepen your rhythm of rest.
Selah
“Selah” is a term found throughout the Psalms and is thought to mean, “To pause, to weigh in the balance, to praise, to lift up.” Take a moment to stop, reflect, pray, praise, listen, and obey. Let’s start with a prayer.
Father, I pray that you would help me to experience your love and presence in a fresh new way and learn how to establish a rhythm of rest that will allow me to live the abundant life You promised. Please radically transform my heart and teach me to find my rest in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
PS – Here is the rest of the series…and my new e-book
- Part 2 – The Gift of Rest
- Part 3 – The Exchange
- Part 4 – Stretched Thin
- Part 5 – STOP
- Part 6 – Be the Person You Want Others To Be
Rest Assured: Seven Days to Stillness, Sanity and the Sabbath You Need
True rest is something that we all desperately need but can’t seem to find. It’s not just sleep and down time we need, although that is important, but rest for our souls. In the words of the early church father, Augustine of Hippo, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
True rest can only be found in a relationship with God.
*This is an e-book available in multiple forms (also downloadable PDF)
