Ask any athlete, and they’ll say we can’t reach the top of our game without hard work. We have to bust our backside to beat the best out there.
Yet, according to Mark Jenkins, MD, at Rice University, it’s not over-the-top training that make us stronger. Rather, it breaks us down, leaving us weaker than before.
It’s called the “overtraining syndrome.” We also know it as burnout. Our testosterone levels fall, our immune status weakens, and our cortisol levels—our “stress” hormone—skyrocket.
That sounds like an oxymoron. Train hard to become weak. The truth is, that’s exactly what happens. Dr. Jenkins stresses it’s the rest we give our body afterwards that makes us stronger. That’s when the damage we do to our body in training repairs itself, and we become better than we were.
The longer the overtraining we endure, the longer our rest period must be.
We see this pattern in 1 Samuel 30:21, where 200 of David’s men became too exhausted to follow their king, and they were left at the brook Besor.
Did David rant and rave, and threaten his men? Did he call them cowards, and have them court martialed? No. We read that when David came near to them, he greeted them. David understood 3,000 years ago what Dr. Jenkins published in 1998. If we push past our endurance point, even for the sake of Christ, we will weaken ourselves to failure. Sometimes we must step aside, take time to rest, and in doing so, become stronger than we were before.
It’s why we can return to work from a vacation, and we feel refreshed, like we’re able to perform at the top of our abilities. We actually become better at what we do for having taken time off. Parents who take a weekend away from their kids? They’ll find extended patience and understanding afterwards, giving them better rapport with their children.
The same holds true for our pastors, Sunday school teachers, and evangelists. Some days we need to take some time off. It’s not a bad thing. It’s God’s thing. Our time off is when he builds us up, and we become better spiritual athletes for him.
When we hand the baton off is when God can renew our strength.
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