Rest

Sabbath. A familiar yet foreign word all at once. God mentions it over and over in His Word. He must want me to know it, to understand it, to participate in it.

“Don’t take a load out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work on that day. But keep the Sabbath as a holy day… and not do any work on that day. If you obey this command… the city of Jerusalem will have people living in it forever” (Jeremiah 17:22-25).

But, what is “Sabbath.” I want to keep it holy; but, even as a lifelong Christian it’s hard for me to digest.

Sabbath (def.) A day of religious observance and abstinence from work, kept by Jews from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sunday.

Well, I’m not sure I fall in with “most Christians” on this one; but I am maturing, and it’s time to sober up, digest and do.

“Sabbath” has always been a difficult concept for me. I was raised a worker. Work ethic is one of the chief values instilled in me by my parents. They’ve always done whatever it takes to get the job done, to provide for their family, to complete what they committed to do. So, the term “Sabbath” has always felt somewhat optional, I’ll admit, even as I’ve grown up going to church every Sunday… so, I know this to be a Holy day.

In my mind, Sabbath is a concept that means rest, reset, a break. As an entrepreneur with ADHD tendencies, resting takes a surprising amount of work, of self-restraint. But, I’ve seen what it looks like when Sabbath is flipped on its head: Running and running, without rest, without reflection, without focus, without enough time connecting with God.

What I feel God saying to us through the Sabbath is, He values rest. After all, God rested on the seventh day after creation. He paused. He reflected. He enjoyed. And, while I tend to simply check things off my list and run to the next project or effort without due pause, God values our obedience. He wants me to obey. He wants me to rest.

He also knows how we are wired. He made us. He knows what we need to operate in a healthy manner. God uses rest to save us from ourselves.

Without rest, we lack patience. (Sure, I might be projecting; so feel free to swap out we with “You, Sarah,” with “we,” if you like.) We lack patience. We get paranoid. We lose vision. We make decisions from fear. We accumulate blind spots. We get resentful. We doubt our calling. We serve without joy. We tune in more to our own, selfish, basic needs and survival than to others. We may even forfeit our calling, without rest.

Without Sabbath, we just keep pushing. We continue to crank through the motions, forfeiting our health. Most importantly, we put our spiritual health at risk.

I feel God saying, “Time out! This is our day, Sarah. I want to connect with you. I want to revive you. I want to talk with you about the week, and show you what I have ahead for you for next week.”

I feel Him saying, “I want to give you clarity. I want to give you revelation. I want to provide answers to your questions and respond to your prayers. But you need to pause. You need to rest. You need to Sabbath. I want to connect with you.”

Not only do we need sweet Sabbath to connect with God, to hear from Him and to rest; but, we need it to protect ourselves and others around us from decisions made in exhaustion that impact ours and others’ lives moving forward.

The older I get, the more mistakes I learn from. And I recognize my own pride and laziness. I have learned, the Bible Is Not Optional! It is the way to LIFE and HEALTH – the pathway to effectively fulfill our callings, the reason we’re here. The Word – the Bible – helps us run towards the prize, our goal, with endurance – not desperation – to the end of it!

As I reflect on the Sabbath, I know I need God’s help to get it and, especially, to do it.

God, Help me. Save me from my own energy, my own drive, from stubbornness, success and performance-orientation. Help me to be governed only by you, your words, and your calling for my life. Rule my nervous system, my ever-active brain and imagination, and direct it to be in alignment with your will for my life, for your purposes to come to pass in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.