A Theology of Rest

I'm on vacation for a while now and have a two month sabbatical coming up at the beginning of next year. Both vacations and sabbaticals look great from a distance. When they actually begin, things look different. What do I do now? One thing I know: doing nothing is not restful. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is something which must be planned and engaged in. My 19-day vacation is one thing. A 60-day sabbatical is entirely another. There are all kinds of things on my to-do and goal lists: ministry at church, in the Air Force, via writing projects. All are challenging and involved. None, for me, come close to the challenge of rest. The Elders at Goodwill didn't know it when they "ordered" me to schedule a sabbatical, but they are forcing me to develop a theology of rest. Here's what I think I know so far about it:

1) The Bible concept of Sabbath is not marginal to healthy faith. It is central.

2) God, who doesn't need rest like He's designed us to, nevertheless, rests.

3) Rest and sabbath remind us that we are not in control, we are not indispensable, we are not what we do, we are not here forever, we can't keep up any pace forever, we can't maintain any activity forever, and we can't ignore the real cost of living: the spiritual-emotional cost each of us pays every hour of every day during life on this earth.

4) Rest doesn't have to be fun to be rest, especially at first.

5) Sabbath is designed by God to be part of a rhythm of life. He commands us to have this rhythm in life. Chaos and confusion are never His preference and often a warning that we have drifted too far away from Him.

6) God (like the Session of Goodwill Church!) will force rest on those who do not take it. 

What do you think? Do you have any contributions or thoughts concerning a theology of rest?