How Do You Rest When Plagued by Type A Personality

“I’d rather burn out than rust out,” is my husband’s motto. He reminds me of this every time I tried to get him to slow down. However, the truth of the matter is, I was only one step behind him with my ‘type A’ personality.

Over commitment is a way of life for us. My husband and I have adapted to living a busy lifestyle. When anything extra comes along, we go from busy to insanely busy. With pastoring a church and directing a ministry to the poor, we oversee, or do, 9 extra projects, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s…just like other pastors, and we’re ALL exhausted!

January equates rest to us…That doesn’t mean he quits preaching, we stop feeding dinners to the needy on weeknights, or quit running the thrift store. It means we don’t take on new projects and only do the “have to” stuff, or the “want to” when the energy arrives. It’s the time of year we catch up on personal projects, and listen to talking books together.

What about the rest of the year? The rest of the year, church members and Word in Action Ministry volunteers regularly advise us, “You need to get some rest. You’ll wear yourself out. I don’t know how you do what you do.”

Well, I’ve thought about that for a long time. Today, I’m going to share my answer. You see, I’ve badgered Steve for a few years now myself. Unable to keep up with him, I watched him work, no matter how he felt. Sick or little sleep, he did what pastors do…serve. I felt like it was my responsibility to “slow” him down so we could have a long future together.

During the process, the Lord opened my eyes to see where our strength stopped and His began. Yes, that was it. I knew God strengthened us, but now, I could literally see when it happened. When tired from serving people after a tornado and church members are in the hospital, and your children’s families are having their own trials, a supernatural energy rises from within. When you’re suffering from allergies and one or none volunteers show up, God does. And, He does because He called you to do it.

You see, my friend, there is a definite difference between doing something on your own accord, and doing it because God asked or commanded. It is those times, you rest in His strength. Afterwards, your energy isn’t depleted, but filled up instead. So, between Steve’s  “Energizer bunny” energy and my type A personality, we can go longer than our kids who are younger with different personalities…and callings. Then, when we need rest, we either take it, or rest in God’s strength to carry out His work.

The other truth is, we’ve learned to rest in the middle of the storm, or adventure. There’s always an eye to the storm. If the storm is emotional instead of physical, we rest by talking to each other more, eating out, doing something relaxing together for a few hours, or a day. You’d be amazed how well that works. Besides, God equips those He calls, and He prepared Steve and I for the work we’re doing in this day and hour.

My desire is to continue serving God with ALL my heart, soul, and mind, as long as I have breath. How I serve Him will change as my natural energy diminishes the way my eyesight did, but I will continue to serve Him beside my husband and whomever God puts on our team.

Let’s talk. How much rest do you need, and how do you rest? Remember, God made us all different and with a unique purpose. Share below how you rest or how you serve.

Thanks for reading, sharing my posts with friends, and for dropping me a line in the comments. All is appreciated. Feel free to read any of the related posts you haven’t read before, too. Have a blessed week!

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