Chapter 4: Make Time Work for You

By Pastor J & the COC Community

When I first started shifting from hustle to purpose, I still struggled with one thing: rest.

Not because I didn’t want it—but because I didn’t know how to rest.

I thought rest meant laziness. I thought if I wasn’t grinding, I was falling behind.

But then God began to show me:

“You’re not losing time when you rest. You’re learning how to make time serve you.”

The truth is, most people don’t know how to flow—they only know how to push.

They confuse rest with inactivity, when in reality, rest is a form of revelation.

🧭 Rhythm Is Spiritual

God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2–3).
Not because He was tired—but because He was modeling something: rhythm.

The rhythm of life isn’t go-go-go.
It’s move-rest, build-breathe, speak-listen.

If you don’t find your rhythm, you’ll live in reaction instead of revelation.
You’ll end up busy but burned out, active but aimless.
That’s why Jesus often withdrew to quiet places to pray (Luke 5:16).
He understood that recharging is not optional—it’s essential.

🛑 Rest Is Not Lazy, It’s Leadership

There’s a rest that comes after work and there’s a rest that gives you strength to work well.

The world teaches us to hustle until we collapse.
God teaches us to rest so we can lead.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

Jesus wasn’t offering a vacation. He was offering alignment.

True rest isn’t about doing nothing—it’s about coming back into divine order.

🧠 How to Make Time Work for You

Schedule Your Stillness
If you don’t schedule rest, chaos will.
Block time to pray, breathe, reflect, and disconnect from noise.
Honor the Sabbath Principle
You don’t have to be legalistic about a day,
but you should be serious about the principle.
One day a week, step back. Let your soul breathe.
Build with Breathing Room
Stop cramming every hour with tasks.
Leave space between meetings, between calls, between obligations.
Great ideas often show up in the margins.
Flow with the Spirit, Not the Clock
Time is a tool, but the Holy Spirit is your guide.
Don’t be so chained to schedules that you miss moments of grace and direction.

⏳ What Rest Really Does

Rest recalibrates your mind
Rest renews your body
Rest sharpens your spirit
Rest reveals what’s still in your heart

Sometimes God allows you to sit still so He can show you what’s moving in your soul.
You’ll never know what’s really going on until you slow down long enough to listen.

🔁 Final Thought

You were never meant to fight time—you were meant to flow with it.

Rest isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.

It’s the proof that you trust God to handle what you can’t fix in your own strength.

When you learn to make time work for you, you’ll stop reacting to life and start responding with purpose.
You’ll build with peace, move with clarity, and lead with overflow—not overload.

Let God bring you back to rhythm because real strength is found in rest, revelation, and relationship.