We have developed a robust theology of deprivation. But what we are too often missing is a theology of delight. We are saturated with a theology of productivity. But we sometimes lack a theology of rest.
What does it mean to faithfully enjoy God's good creation? What would it look like if we believed that rest was of equal importance as vocation? What if our ability to savor all that is beautiful and cease from our striving was our greatest testimony to a world that is absolutely starved for goodness, parched for the living waters of God's gracious "enoughness."
I wrestle with these questions in my book Holy Unhappiness. I don't have all the answers, but there is one thing I know: For as many times as we are told in Scripture to fast, we are told to feast, to celebrate God's love. While none of the Ten Commandments mandate that we build a multi-million-dollar ministry program, we are commanded to rest. With that rest comes the embodied belief that God has set us free from the slavery of endless striving. 1