Ever since I was a child, I had trouble admitting that I was sick or injured. I remember one time in third grade I threw up before school, didn’t tell my parents, and went to school anyway—only to throw up in a garbage can when I got there.

I don’t know why exactly it was hard for me to admit I was sick. I think it was mainly a pride thing, and a fear that I would miss out on something really important if I spent the whole day sleeping or watching TV.

So, I’ll admit it. This week I am sick.

Nowadays, I feel like it’s not so much an issue of refusing to admit that I’m sick. It’s more of a refusal to stop what I’m doing and get the rest I need in order to get well. It’s a feeling like I’m going to let others down or shirk my responsibilities if I rest, and it’s still an issue of pride.

But I’m learning how much more I let others down and fail when I allow activities to come before my relationship with the Lord. It’s clear that God knows rest is important for us, or he wouldn’t have made it a commandment.

1 Corinthians 7:17 says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches,” and Luke 16:10 says, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.”

I don’t think God asks us to push and push ourselves to the point of complete exhaustion. I also don’t think he wants us to try to do more than what he’s put before us. Sure, it would be great to be the next Billy Graham or C.S. Lewis, but chances are God has called us to be faithful with something much smaller—but just as important.

Trying to be more than the life God has assigned to me—like refusing to rest when I’m sick—is like telling God that I know what’s best for my life, and it’s still an issue of pride.

Psalm 62:1-2
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.