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Daughters of God
will be needed at different periods of our life. If we recklessly exhaust
this force by continual overtaxation, we shall sometime be losers. Our
usefulness will be lessened, if not our life itself destroyed.
As a rule, the labor of the day should not be prolonged into the
evening. If all the hours of the day are well improved, the work
extended into the evening is so much extra, and the overtaxed system
will suffer from the burden imposed upon it. I have been shown that
those who do this often lose much more than they gain, for their
energies are exhausted and they labor on nervous excitement. They
may not realize any immediate injury, but they are surely undermining
their constitution.—
Counsels on Health, 99 (1890)
.
Caution Concerning Overwork—Remember that man must pre-
serve his God-given talent of intelligence by keeping the physical
machinery in harmonious action. Daily physical exercise is necessary
to the enjoyment of health. It is not work but over work, without peri-
ods of rest, that breaks people down, endangering the life forces. Those
who overwork soon reach the place where they work in a hopeless
way.
The work done to the Lord is done in cheerfulness and with
courage. God wants us to bring spirit and life and hopefulness into
our work. Brain workers should give due attention to every part of the
human machinery, equalizing the taxation. Physical and mental effort,
wisely combined, will keep the whole man in a condition that makes
him acceptable to God....
Bring into the day’s work hopefulness, courage, and amiability.
Do not overwork. Better far leave undone some of the things planned
for the day’s work than to undo oneself and become overtaxed, losing
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the courage necessary for the performance of the tasks of the next day.
Do not today violate the laws of nature, lest you lose your strength
for the day to follow.—
Mind, Character, and Personality 2:375, 376
(1903)
.
Proper Periods of Rest Needful—There is danger that the women
connected with the work will be required to labor too hard without
proper periods of rest. Such severe taxation should not be brought
upon the workers. Some will not injure themselves, but others, who are
conscientious, will certainly overwork. Periods of rest are necessary
for all, especially women.—
Evangelism, 494 (1896)
.