Rest, Abide, And Be Fruitful

Productivity Versus Fruitfulness

Be not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest… Hebrews 4:9-11

Can you feel the tension between these two Scriptures? And oh the wisdom we need to walk the line of tension between these two admonishments – these “Rules for Life” seemingly in contradiction to one another. How then do we find balance and live our lives to walk in adherence to these two “opposing” statements?

For this is the challenge we all face. To know when to press through and to know when to rest. To find our daily and weekly, even monthly rhythm that suits us best. For one person’s pace is not another’s. And do we give ourselves permission to rest when our body gives those signals that rest is needed. Do we trust Him enough for that time of rest? Or do we push through another day? Delighted in ourselves for what was accomplished and our level of productivity?

But here’s a curious thing about productivity. Not once did Jesus ever make it a topic of conversation. For it’s the world that speaks of productivity; so much so that it measure productivity on an daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. Fruitfulness, on the other hand, is what Jesus speaks of – “by their fruits you will know them” is how Jesus ends one of his conversations on fruitfulness, and the topic and concept is prevalent throughout the Word. Because His desire for His followers is that they bear much fruit, and good fruit at that!

Here's an excerpt from one such conversation that gives us a key to how we walk the line of tension between not growing weary in all of our “well doing” and entering into the rest that’s been made available for the people of God:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

Fruit is the natural result as we abide in Him. There is no striving as we abide in Him. There is no weariness as we abide in Him. And this is yet another key – to go throughout our day “abiding” in and with Him. To go through our day with a conscious awareness of the nearness of His presence. And to remember that Jesus also took time to rest. He even rested in the midst of a storm! It’s only when we get out of sync with Him, when we forget to abide with Him that we end up with bad fruit or no fruit at all because fruit happens when it’s connected to the vine.

But oh how easy it can be to fall into the snare of disconnection. To start working for Him or to start working in our own strength (or worse yet -to start working for ourselves), rather than working withHim. And a friend recently gave me this key to help me to discern the difference. Is my thought process, “What am I going to do today?” or is it, “Jesus, what are we going to do today?”

Of course we must also be keen to discern and obey what He’s saying and where His Spirit is leading us, especially when He’s leading and guiding us to a place of rest. Will we follow His prompt?

I didn’t this week and my physical body is currently in a state of revolt, for lack of a better term. I had opportunity to slow down after two days of pushing through and I didn’t. Until my physical body forced me to. And what I’ve noticed (and learned) is that rest is more sweet, more enjoyable when you are feeling well. I will better trust Him now that *He will continue to work in me to “do” His good pleasure, even as I rest. Because He does all things well, and He makes provision for all things, including rest. Next time I will give myself permission to rest. For there is no condemnation in rest.

Meditative Verses:

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Psalm 138:8

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13