Lessons on Rest from Chick-fil-A

The title to this may seem silly to some.  But there is a reason for my crazy!

See, this year I have the privilege of contributing one of the 40 daily Lenten devotionals to my church's yearly devotional in the weeks leading up to Easter.  I am excited to contribute, but this is also a deeply personal work for me.  This past year, in the Easter season of 2016, the Lenten devotional theme was on the book of Job and on trials and questions that come with the pain of life.  This devotional was the connecting point for my sister-in-law and I before she passed away this past summer.  As much as I'm delighted to contribute, I've also cried some too.  I have emails exchanged still in my email box from her to me.  It's a beautiful testimony to her growth and increasing peace as she neared the end of her life.  I hadn't known my sister-in-law well up unto that point, but that devotional connected us spiritually and emotionally, to the point where she hand wrote me a note calling me her "true sister."  I sobbed when I received the note itself.  This series of devotionals can change trajectories of lives both inside and outside of my church.  I want to honor the Lord, and I want to honor my sister-in-law's memory through my writing.  So this blog is actually a processing of what my topic is, and really it's filled with prayer that I can be used, as well as the other writers of the devotionals, to bring glory to God through the messages he wants to bring to those who will interact with this devotional leading up to Easter.

My topic is Lord of the Sabbath, specifically, the original verses of the ten commandments in Exodus that includes the mandate for Sabbath.  As I was initially opening the email, I read the topic and the first thing that came to mind was Chick-fil-A.

Yes, Chick-fil-A.

"Why?" you may ask?  Because Chick-fil-A takes the prospect of extended rest seriously.  They're a much-loved Chicken sandwich fast food company with silly commercials that have cows advocating for you to eat more chicken (instead of beef!) with egregious spelling errors that make you laugh.  They're just awesome.  The food is good and I swear they force their people to be friendly!  I mean, these people are pleasant even with irritating orders in drive thrus, I've never been smarted off to by an employee and they're super accommodating.  My husband and I are happy to support them as a whole.

Their owners also happen to be devout Christians.  They close every Sunday to advocate for all employees to be with families and to worship if they choose to do so.  They also close early the days before some national holidays and they close for every big national holiday.  They literally are closed 52 days a year, plus holidays.  In business math, that's INSANITY.  Do you know how much business you're missing?  How much money you're NOT making being open those days?  Imagine the money!!

But here's the thing, Chick-fil-A is THE MOST PROFITABLE FAST FOOD CHAIN IN AMERICA.  Has been for many years.  BY A LANDSLIDE.  (feel free to google this info!).  God is fully sufficient to meet Chick-fil-A's needs in 6 days instead of 7.  The owner's humble desire to honor the Lord, to give their employees a full day's break from demands of business, for them to slow down, go home and be able to have time to engage the people and needs around them...is repaid by God meeting what they need.

That's what Sabbath is.  Sabbath isn't a nap time, it's what Tim Keller calls a "soul rest."  When we work too much, when we say yes to too many things, when we overcommit our time and resources, this is an exhaustion of the soul that no amount of sleep can help.  We are perpetually exhausted.  No matter how many naps we take, how many snacks we eat, glasses of wine we drink, yoga we do, nothing alleviates the exhaustion we feel.

Work in and of itself is not evil.  Work was implemented in the garden of Eden when everything was perfect.  We were designed to work, and it's a beautiful thing.  We will not be "angels" up in heaven, on clouds, playing harps.  That's utter nonsense, and not biblically supported.  We will be living and working in community, as originally and perfectly designed by God in the beginning.  It will be amazing.  We will be engaged in truly meaningful work because it glorifies our God and the way he made us.

We live in a culture that is far and away obsessed with work.  We believe our work gives our lives meaning.  The more we stretch our wallets, our time, our resources, or our dedication to our assigned vocation, the more we mean.  How often have you had this conversation with a friend?..."How are you?"  The answer is one word, "Busy."  We validate our existence through our work.  We are slaves to our schedules and commitments.  We go on vacations to attempt to "get a break" only to realize it doesn't take us too long after getting back to be exhausted all over again and pining for the next vacation.

Sabbath is a rhythm of rest.  It's built in.  It's a discipline. It takes extended down time.  It's a two fold rest.  It's a time of liberation from our work.  It's a time where we are reminded that we are NOT our accomplishments.  We are not slaves to our work.  It is also a time of trust, where we realize that our ability to work, the sales we get, the money we make, the ego we get from a job well done, does not actually come from ourselves at all.  It comes from God himself.  We trust him to provide for our needs.  We may not get "excess," but we trust him to know and provide for our needs, and therefore the "letting go" of time and commitment to connect with him in worship and to be able to just "be" is actually us acknowledging the sovereignty of God over every single aspect of our lives.  Sabbath is meant to be a time of restoration of the things that are the foundation underneath the mere physicality of our bodies.  This is what Jesus himself focuses on when he speaks of Sabbath during his days of ministry.  Sabbath is a time of RESTORATION of the things that matter.  This requires time, discipline and regularity.

Tim Keller likens this to REM sleep of the soul.  Sure, you can take 8 one hour naps in a day and say that you've gotten your "8 hours of sleep in."  However, any sleep expert will tell you that in order to get the deep RESTORATIVE sleep that your body actually needs, you have to sleep for a certain period of time straight through.  The same is true of life.  We wonder why a half hour run makes us feel good for a little bit, but doesn't change our overall exhaustion level.   Why do our once or twice a year vacations just give life a little shot in the arm to make life feel a bit better, but doesn't change our outlook for long?  Why do our nights out give us a small reprieve, but we head back to our commitments and are overwhelmed again? 

Because we are "napping" instead of taking regular deep rest.  A rest that says, "We are not our work."  A rest that brings us back to center REGULARLY.  It doesn't have to be a full day, that's not the point.  But it's a built in regular time, whether weekly or biweekly, that we sit back and look at what we accomplish and say, "It is good, but it is not my meaning.  He has defined who I am.  He has paid the price to reconcile me to himself.  He has deemed me a loved child in his family.  He sees my need and will provide for it.  I haven't been lazy, I have done what I can.  Now, I will sit and enjoy Him and all he has given me and gaze on his glory...knowing that it is enough for all of life."

We need to find a discipline of rest in our lives.  It is built into us, if we don't take a deep breath and rest our souls in Him regularly, we will keep going in our meaningless striving and keep wondering why we are so tired.  We were designed for a balance of work and full, deep rest. 

I don't know what this looks like for me.  I don't know what it looks like for you.  I know I'm headed into a busy time in life.  I have 3 kids under 3.  I have a part time job.  I have grad school starting in a couple of weeks.  I look at my life and I say, HOW DO I BUILD REST IN?!?!  God, don't You know rest will not be possible for me?  I'll have assignments, I will have work, I will have kids grabbing at me, a husband who needs me.  Don't you see my chaos?...And he whispers back, "Yes. That's why you NEED to come to me and find rest in me.  My burden is easy and my yoke is light.  Come to me, my child.  You need me."  I don't have any answers. 

But with school starting in a couple of weeks, I believe he has stopped me here on this subject to get me to reflect before I add to my chaos.  I need to figure out what building in rest means for me.  I have no answers.  But as I prepare to write this devotional, I kinda wanted to write my reflections.  I think in some ways, I'm scared of rest.  I'm scared of reflection.  I'd sooner grab for my phone and busy my mind rather than have 15 min of allowing an "inactive" time.  Maybe I do believe that the busier I am, or at least the busier I feel, the more my life means.  Maybe down time is a scary thing because of what it will reveal about me, or what it reveals about God, or life in general?  I don't know why I have such a hard time being quiet.  But I can tell you, I am a slave to my own busyness, and I some how get off on it.  I like being busy.  Slowing down feels like worthless time.  But what if slowing down is actually some of the most significant time there is?  What if I'm missing some of the beauty and depth of life offered in Him because I don't slow down?  What if I do build in time to just "be," to allow the feelings and worship to come in unstructured ways?  Will it change me, would it change my life for the better?

But I look at Chick-fil-A's example, and I think, "What do they understand about the Sabbath that the Lord honors?  What am I missing?"  I know I need to allow the liberation, the trust, and the restoration that an intentional, regular Sabbath brings to truly take hold.

Maybe if we all took a lesson from Chick-fil-A as a culture, our whole culture may be better for it?

I may not be able to change a whole culture, but I know I can start with me.  So, I will go forward in these next couple of weeks asking Him what he wants me to do in my days, weeks and years to come.  I believe He has brought me to this topic right now for a reason.  I need to have a listening ear to see what changes he wants to make in me.  And maybe those changes will be the insights I need to write this brief devotional by Tuesday.  We shall see.

Any prayers are appreciated.