The Daily CHEW™
Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals
Several weekends this season my wife and I are driving down to Pascagoula to see our son. We have rented homes that look out on the Gulf — fishing off the dock, kayaks, a pool, a hot tub, the kind of view that makes your shoulders drop the moment you walk in. And here is the strange thing I have noticed. If I finish my work on Friday before we leave, I sleep like a champion Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. By Monday I feel like I spent two weeks away. I am eager to connect with clients, eager to keep working on how to get the love of God from head to heart so that I and the people I serve love Him and others better — and so that we receive healing, growth, and strategic clarity.
The discovery has been quietly humbling: getting the work done is the key to my sleep. So I am putting real parameters around it. There is always more to do. But if I say “I will get this project to 70 percent before I go to bed and that is enough,” I am surprised at how much better I rest. And then I adjust that percentage downward as needed to protect self-care — the gym, eating well, hydration, time with my wife, time with people who feed my soul. I am still working hard. I am finally working smarter. I am also still learning. Some Fridays the 70 percent slips. Some weeks the parameters need adjusting. But the direction is real.
“He gives to his beloved sleep.” — Psalm 127:2, ESV. God does not honor the leader who refuses to put a ceiling on the day. Scripture reveals that sleep itself is a gift from the Father to those He loves — and the leader who learns to define “enough” before bed receives it. The Holy Spirit reshapes professionals who are willing to set parameters on the work in trust that God Himself is at work in what we set down.
Here is the question for this Friday: If I really believed the love of God is faithful enough to carry the 30 percent I do not finish tonight, how would that change the parameter I set on this evening’s work?
One move before the weekend: Pick one open project this evening. Define what 70 percent looks like before you start. When you hit it, close the laptop. Sleep. If this is the only thing I do from this CHEW today, it is enough.
With you on the journey,
Ryan
If you had to put this into one sentence for today, what would you say God is inviting you to rest in or return to?
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