I’ve got one of the best things in my life happening in the next few days, and I’m also up against one of the hardest disciplines I face.

I’m going on vacation. That’s the best part.  Nine days starting today with the famous you-can-only-understand-this-if-you’re-Canadian 22 hour non stop drive to the FLA.  Seven nights to unwind and then a slower drive back with a stop at one of my favourite places: North Point for church.

My kids are getting older.  Jordan starts university in September and this may be one of the last or the very last “four of us in lockdown together” vacations we have.  Can’t believe life is flying by as quickly as it is.  I am completely savouring the time I’ve got coming up with the three most important people in my life.  I love time with my family.  We’ll even be able to spend time with some of Toni’s family who’s down in Florida as well.  Should be fun.

Now the hard part:  I’m going to unplug for nine days.  No work, no blogging, no email.  I might twitter, because, well, because it’s twitter. Or maybe not.  We’ll see.

In this uber-wired world, I find it harder than ever to unplug.  I don’t worry about Connexus – we have the most awesome team running it.  I know they’ll handle everything as well or better than I could.  It’s just I like to work.

Time and again, it’s caused tension when I’ve tried to combine play and work, so I’m going to try to do something I don’t do well at all – unplug.  No email.  No blogging for a week or so (even though I have about a dozen posts floating in my mind).  No sermon prep (I love the writing almost as much as getting to preach).

But the tension is here even on day one.  My family’s sleeping in as we get ready for the ride.  I can’t sleep.  I showered, got ready, gassed up the Honda, grabbed some Tim Horton’s tea for Toni and I.   They’re still resting.  So I do the only thing I know how to do:  work (finishing some future series outlines).

I have a disease I think.  Truthfully, more than a few of us in church leadership have this disease.

I just want to be fully present for my favourite people on the planet.  For me, that means unplugging.  So…here we go.

How do you wrestle with the tension between working and resting?  What helps you?

I’ll look forward to reading any comments (when I get back in a week or so, of course).  :0)

Most of us are running in top gear a surprising percentage of the time.  We feel like we need to do it because we have to accomplish things – even things for God.

Question:  does your input exceed your output?

If you are even a bit driven (like many of us are), you and I will be tempted to measure everything by output.  Did we produce?  Did we hit all the deadlines, create new goals, climb new mountains? What are we accomplishing?

But what I realize more and more is that for long term value and sustainability, my input has to be greater than my output, or at least equal my output.  It’s like a car.  If you hope to travel hundreds of kilometers, you better have a tank full of gas.  If you try to run your automotive output higher than your input, you end up sitting at the side of the road going nowhere.

Jesus mastered the art of input.  I am still stunned that he only ministered for three years and yet turned the world upside down.  You don’t even have to be a Christ-follower to acknowledge that Jesus left a huge impact. 

I’m pretty sure one of the reasons his three years counted for so much was because he prepared for them for 30 years.  Ten parts preparation to one part execution.  Suck on that mint for a while.

Did he need to?  Well, we know that by age 12, he was wowing the religious brass.  Couldn’t he have launched out at 13?  I guess. 

But he wanted more time with his Father. He really valued God’s input and knew his mission would require full focus.  The Gospels are a story of everyone but His Heavenly Father trying to throw him off mission.

Jesus actually never stopped getting input. Even during the three years, he would simply disappear on his disciples.  He’d withdraw to pray all night.  He launched his ministry not with a killer message, but with a 40 day desert retreat. 

His input was so significant that his output was bound to have incredible quality.

Can we learn something from that? 

Um, I think so.  I know I can.  The longer I’m at this, the more I need to spend time not doing ministry so I can end up doing what I hope is meaningful in ministry.  I don’t think that’s just a ministry thing – it’s a life thing.  It’s how God designed us.

If your output exceeds your input, you will no longer be a leader worth listening to or following.  If your output exceeds your input, you will eventually run out of anything worth saying.

What do you think?  Do you agree?  Why do you think most of us (me included) find it so hard to slow down and tap into great input?

So I’m having a non-productive day today.  A great breakfast meeting, but my focus started fading shortly thereafter.  No shortage of stuff to do and I don’t even want to take a nap – just not enough focus to accomplish anything significant.

Question:  do our body and mind ever conspire to force us into time off?

I am haunted by a verse in 2 Chronicles.  It talks about Israel being overthrown and defeated as a nation.  Originally, the people of Israel were supposed to let the land lay fallow every seven years (no crops), celebrate a year of Jubilee every 50th year, and observe the Sabbath week to week.  Did they? Pretty much they didn’t. Never.  Ever. 

Instead of resting, they worked.  Gotta make money.  Gotta get ahead.  We’re driven.  If I don’t make it happen, it’s not going to happen.

But then they got defeated.  Completely.  Captured – taken into exile.  And this is the poignant observation of scripture on their defeat:

So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.  2 Chronicles 36.21

Ouch.  I don’t want my body to enjoy its Sabbath rest involuntarily. 

I love to work, but God created each of us with limits.  I fear being lazy, so I work extra hard.  (Best definition of laziness I ever heard was from Stuart Hall – laziness is resting before you are tired).  I’m always trying to push past my limits, but maybe God just doesn’t want me to. 

When I analyze why I work too hard, I shudder:

- I feel I can run the universe better than God can. 

- I like too much control and not enough dependence.

- I want to be significant, and am not comfortable enough letting God be significant.

I get terrified by the idea of a real Sabbath – a day where I produce nothing…absolutely nothing and simply let God be enough for me.  I’ve had very few days in my life where I completely did nothing…produced nothing, got distracted by nothing (no sports, no movies, no biking, no reading) and just let me be in the presence of God.  Wonder what that would be like?

I’m planning on taking tomorrow off.   Maybe my body is telling me I should have taken today off too. 

What do you think?  Do you pay attention to God-ordained limits?  If not, why not?