On our RichLife Radio show we’ve discussed being good stewards of our time and our energy.  One often overlooked aspect of balance with our life is resting.  Resting doesn’t just meaning getting a good night’s rest, although that is a good part of it.  It’s not just for your physical health either.  Resting is a state of “peace” or state of relaxing.  Without having this implemented in our lives we can get stressed out, burnt out or out of action entirely. A good rule of thumb is simply asking yourself what occupies your mind most of the time.  Do you wake up thinking about your stresses?  If  you are consumed by your work or stress, then it’s definitely time to rest.

The opposite of rest is stressed, at least in my book.  One dictionary defines stress as a state of “Dis Ease.”  Isn’t it interesting when you examine this definition closer that the word could be “disease?”  It’s a proven fact that stress causes many diseases and lowers the immune system allowing diseases to enter the body.  Ever felt like you were pushing the envelope with work only to be “taken out” by the flu or to catch a cold?  More than likely we all have.

There’s no shortage of movies on during the holidays that have the protagonist visiting what his/her life will look like in the future if they continue down a path of obsession with their work.  Most recently, the comedy, Click! comes to mind starring Adam Sandler (currently airing repeatedly on local channels).

As we mentioned above, resting isn’t about sleeping or being lazy.  It’s about setting aside time in your day, week and year to “regroup.”  Allow the levels of stress to calm down and recharge.  We have a great example of this in the Bible.  In Genesis 2:2,3

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

This is the classic example of resting.  What might miss most of us since we know this scripture is why did God rest.  He’s God.  It’s not like God needs to rest or sleep.  He’s all powerful and all-knowing.  What kind of God rests?

The kind that wants to set an example. When you have children and they do not want to take a nap or go to bed, most parents have found that lying down next to them or going to bed themselves is the best way.  By setting the example, we teach our kids to “rest.”  Likewise, God is showing us the example of resting.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the Sabbath.  We’re not legalistic here and we don’t think God is either.  If you aren’t able to take Sunday off we don’t think you’ll go to Hell and if you are even thinking about this, you’ve missed the point.  The point is to rest.  Take a day off at least once a week and don’t do anything that you would consider work or stressful, this means no e-mail, no texting, no voice mail, no return calls, leave it all.  The world will be there when you come back.   What you’ll find is that you can do more in 6 days than most people can do in 7.

The Model
The average fast food franchise hopes to achieve $800K a year in gross revenue.   The gold standard is the golden arches which achieves roughly $1.2 to $1.3 Million a year per franchise on average.  There is one franchise which is relatively young by comparison that is turning these numbers on their side.  One franchise, routinely averages $3 Million in Gross Revenue per franchise.  This franchise is… Chick-Fil-A.  When Truett Cathy started the franchise he set aside Sunday as his Sabbath or day of rest and neither he nor his employees work at his restaurants on Sunday. Not every employee is a Christian but they all benefit from the rest.

Again, this isn’t a license to be lazy but rather a license to choose to cheat your work/stress a day in order to give to your life.  A RichLife is one that you can enjoy.