Resting for a Traithlon
When I first decided to do a triathlon the only thing I could think about was training. Swimming, biking and running – nonstop. So I did just that. In fact I over-trained and now have a hint of shin splints. Until now I had no idea that you could over-train for a triathlon. What I have learned is that rest is as much a part of training as working out is.
This caught me by surprise since I am quite an advocate of rest. If you know me well you know that I am always encouraging people to rest. In our world today we seem to, not only lack the ability to rest, but have no concept of what that actually means.
A few weeks ago my wife, kids, and I went on a vacation to Southern California. When I returned people asked, “Did you get my email?” or “I texted you and never heard back.” I then told them that I was “off the grid” and explained that I had turned my computer and phone off. One person said, “Wow, that must have been so hard!” I replied, “Actually it’s not. You just push the 'power' button on the computer and phone until it shuts off.”
We can’t forget that rest is something that God himself created. While he called all of his creation “good” it was only rest (or Sabbath) that he said was “holy.” It was entirely different. More than this, God created rest on the last day. It was, in some ways, the crowning achievement of his creative work. Rest was the goal.
Often we consider rest to be something we have to do so we can “get back at it in the morning.” Our goal is doing, working, moving, shaking, and we rest so we can do that. Which means that when we rest we are only thinking about work which isn’t rest – it’s mental work. For the Hebrew people, they knew, that rest was a gift and that we worked to rest, not rest to work.
This is why the writer of Hebrews speaks about the people of God entering a Sabbath rest in the world to come. It is this kind of life that will greet the people of God in the world to come. Rest is not a beginning it is an end. It reminds us that we are human beings, not human doings.
I was doing so much for the triathlon that I began to injure myself. In an attempt to be in great shape my body was getting into bad shape. So I began to rest. When I train I push myself hard – but when I rest I do the same. In that time my body recovers, builds back up, and is able to gather itself.
This is difficult for me, for I truly enjoy the workouts. But each day I remind myself that when I rest I will become better. Perhaps we should all consider this for life. We ought to remind ourselves that we need to stop, rest, and recover – after all that is where we are heading in the world to come.
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