Key Verse:
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” — Mark 6:31 (all scripture is from the NIV)
Every pastor has heard the advice.
“You need to take a sabbatical.”
And perhaps you do.
But for many pastors, a sabbatical simply isn’t an option right now. The church is too small. The staff is too thin. There isn’t enough money to pay someone else to cover the pulpit. There are elderly parents to care for, children still at home, or responsibilities that cannot simply be handed to someone else for three months.
Sometimes even taking a full week away feels complicated.
So what do you do when you recognize the need for rest but extended rest isn’t realistically available?
You learn to rest smaller.
Jesus Didn’t Apologize for Rest
The Gospels portray Jesus as extraordinarily busy. Crowds followed Him. People constantly wanted something from Him. The sick needed healing. The disciples needed teaching. Religious leaders demanded answers. At times, people were literally waiting outside the door.
Sound familiar?
Yet Jesus did something that can make ministry-minded people uncomfortable.
He walked away.
Luke tells us, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
Notice the word often.
Withdrawal was not an emergency procedure Jesus employed only after reaching complete exhaustion. It was part of the rhythm of His life.
Jesus understood something pastors frequently forget: stepping away from the need for a while does not mean you don’t care about the need.
The Ministry Will Always Have Something Else
One of the reasons pastors struggle to rest is that ministry never feels finished.
There is always another phone call to make, another email to answer, another person to visit, another meeting to prepare for, and another sermon waiting at the end of the week.
You can finish mowing a lawn and look back at a completed lawn.
Ministry rarely gives you that satisfaction.
You can preach Sunday’s sermon, but next Sunday is already coming.
You can empty your inbox in the morning and have twelve new messages by afternoon.
You can help one family through a crisis while another crisis is developing.
If you decide you will rest when everything is finished, you will never rest.
Everything will never be finished.
The Twenty-Minute Parking Lot Sabbatical
Imagine this situation.
A pastor finishes a hospital visit. His next appointment isn’t for forty-five minutes, and the church is only fifteen minutes away.
Normally, he would immediately drive back to the office. There are emails waiting. Sunday’s sermon isn’t finished. He could certainly find something productive to do with those thirty minutes.
Instead, he drives to a nearby park.
He leaves his phone in the car, sits on a bench, and does absolutely nothing productive for twenty minutes.
He watches the trees move in the wind. He prays a little. He doesn’t prepare anything, solve anything, or plan anything.
Then he returns to the office.
Was that a sabbatical?
Of course not.
But those twenty minutes may have done more for him than twenty additional minutes staring at a computer screen.
That is a micro-rest.
Stop Thinking Rest Has to Be Impressive
We tend to think of rest in large units.
A two-week vacation.
A three-month sabbatical.
A retreat in the mountains.
Those things can be wonderful, and when they are available, pastors should make use of them. But if those are the only experiences we recognize as legitimate rest, we will miss dozens of smaller opportunities God gives us.
A micro-rest might be thirty quiet minutes before anyone else wakes up.
It might be eating lunch somewhere other than your desk.
It might be taking a slow walk around the neighborhood after dinner without listening to a podcast.
It might be sitting on the porch with your spouse.
It might be turning your phone off for an hour.
It might even be taking a nap.
Pastors sometimes have the peculiar ability to feel guilty while doing absolutely nothing.
We need to get over that.
Put a Period Between Ministry Moments
One of the exhausting things about modern ministry is that everything runs together.
You leave a counseling session while answering a text about the worship service. You eat lunch while checking email. You drive to the hospital while mentally outlining Sunday’s sermon. You arrive home physically present with your family while your mind is still sitting in the church office.
There are no periods anymore.
Only commas.
Micro-rests put periods between things.
After a difficult meeting, take ten minutes before beginning the next task.
After finishing your sermon, walk outside before opening your email.
When you arrive home, sit in the driveway for five minutes, pray, and deliberately leave the church day behind before walking through the door.
These pauses may seem insignificant.
They aren’t.
They tell your mind and body, That part of the day is over. Now we begin something else.
Your Phone Is Probably Stealing Some of Your Rest
Here is an uncomfortable possibility: some pastors actually have more opportunities for rest than they realize.
We just give them to our phones.
Ten quiet minutes becomes ten minutes of scrolling.
A peaceful lunch becomes checking messages.
An evening on the couch becomes an hour of reading arguments involving people we’ve never met.
We call it relaxing, but often we stand up more agitated than when we sat down.
Not everything that distracts you rests you.
That’s an important distinction.
Sometimes the most restorative thing you can do is allow yourself to be unreachable for a little while.
The world managed before you checked your phone.
It will probably manage for another thirty minutes.
Elijah Needed a Nap and a Meal
I love the practicality of 1 Kings 19.
Elijah had just experienced the confrontation on Mount Carmel. Then Jezebel threatened his life, and the prophet collapsed emotionally.
He was exhausted, frightened, and ready to quit.
God’s first response was not to give Elijah a leadership book.
He didn’t send him to a conference.
He didn’t rebuke him for insufficient faith.
Elijah slept.
Then an angel gave him food.
Then he slept again.
Only later did God address the deeper issues.
There is a lesson there for pastors.
Not every spiritual low point has a complicated spiritual explanation.
Sometimes you are tired.
Sometimes you need food.
Sometimes you need sleep.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do at 9:30 at night is go to bed.
Protect Something That Isn’t Ministry
Pastors need something in their lives that doesn’t require them to be Pastor.
Maybe you work in the garden. Ride a motorcycle. Go fishing. Read history. Build things in the garage. Play golf badly. Take photographs. Work on an old car. Walk the dog.
The activity matters less than the freedom it provides.
For a little while, nobody needs a sermon.
Nobody is asking you to make a decision.
Nobody expects you to have the answer.
You’re simply a human being enjoying something God has given you.
That isn’t wasted time.
It may be one of the things helping you remain healthy enough to keep doing ministry.
Don’t Make Your Family Compete with the Church
Micro-rest also means protecting small spaces for the people closest to you.
Have dinner without the phone.
Take your spouse for coffee.
Sit on the porch together after the day is finished.
Watch something that makes both of you laugh.
Call one of your children just because you want to hear his or her voice—not because you need anything.
These moments rarely appear on a ministry report.
But they matter.
Your congregation has many people who can love and serve it.
Your family has only one you.
Build Rest Before You Need Rescue
The best time to begin resting is before exhaustion forces the issue.
A pastor who repeatedly ignores fatigue eventually discovers that the body, mind, and emotions have ways of collecting what they are owed. What could have been managed through healthy rhythms can eventually require much more significant intervention.
Micro-rests are not a substitute for vacations, days off, or sabbaticals when those are needed. Nor are they a cure for serious burnout.
They are maintenance.
Think of them as small acts of stewardship scattered throughout the week.
Fifteen minutes here.
Thirty minutes there.
An evening protected.
A morning slowed down.
A phone turned off.
A walk taken.
A prayer offered without preparing to preach it later.
Small things.
But small things accumulate.
A Simple Weekly Micro-Rest Plan
You don’t need another complicated system to manage. In fact, if your rest plan becomes another checklist that makes you feel guilty, we’ve probably missed the point.
Instead, try building a few small pauses into the rhythm of an ordinary ministry week.
Monday — Decompress for 30 minutes.
Sunday takes more out of you than you probably realize. Before plunging into the new week, give yourself thirty minutes that accomplishes nothing. Sit somewhere quiet, take a walk, enjoy a slow cup of coffee, or simply be still. Don’t evaluate Sunday’s sermon. Don’t check attendance. Don’t solve anything.
Tuesday — Take lunch away from your desk.
Give yourself thirty minutes without email, sermon preparation, or your phone. Eat somewhere pleasant if possible. The objective isn’t entertainment; it’s allowing your mind to stop processing ministry for a little while.
Wednesday — Put a period in the middle of the day.
For many pastors, Wednesday can become a second Sunday because of evening responsibilities. Somewhere between the daytime work and evening ministry, take fifteen or twenty minutes alone. Walk, pray, sit quietly, or close your eyes. Let one part of the day end before the next begins.
Thursday — Do something you enjoy for one hour.
Give yourself an hour for something that has nothing to do with ministry. Work in the garage. Read something that isn’t theological. Ride your motorcycle. Go fishing. Exercise. Take photographs. Work in the yard. The only rule is simple: don’t turn your hobby into sermon research.
Friday — Protect an evening.
If your schedule allows it, make one evening a ministry-free zone. Put the phone away during dinner. Spend time with your spouse, family, or a friend. Watch a movie. Go somewhere. Laugh. Let yourself be a person instead of everybody’s pastor for a few hours.
Saturday — Create a quiet pocket before Sunday.
Saturday can easily become anxiety day as Sunday approaches. Find twenty or thirty minutes when you deliberately stop preparing. Pray without working on tomorrow’s pastoral prayer. Read Scripture without looking for another sermon point. Remind yourself that the church belongs to Christ and tomorrow does not depend entirely upon you.
Sunday — Take ten minutes after everyone leaves.
Before evaluating the service, answering messages, or thinking about what needs to change next week, sit quietly. Thank God for the privilege of preaching His Word and serving His people. Then consciously release the day to Him.
That’s it.
Not a three-month sabbatical.
Not a week in the mountains.
Just small pockets of rest deliberately scattered throughout an ordinary week.
Some weeks you won’t manage all seven. That’s okay. This isn’t another standard by which to judge yourself. The purpose is simply to develop the habit of recognizing opportunities to stop before your body and soul force you to.
Thirty minutes here. Twenty minutes there. One protected evening. One enjoyable hour.
Those small pauses may not look impressive on a calendar.
But over months and years, they can help make ministry sustainable.
A Final Word
You are a servant of Christ.
And servants need rest.
Jesus knew that.
He looked at His exhausted disciples and said:
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
Perhaps some pastors need to hear those words as a command rather than a suggestion.
If the long rest isn’t available right now, take the small one.
Then take another tomorrow.
Sometimes staying in ministry for the long haul begins with learning how to stop for twenty minutes.
Resource of the Week
The Whole Counsel Sunday School Series
