A while back I was talking to a good friend of mine, and he asked if I had enjoyed being on vacation for a few months. The weird thing was that I hadn’t even thought of the last few months as a vacation. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy it (because I did) but I can’t believe how busy I was. I mean how did this happen? It seems like every year I find myself committed to too many things, and then it comes time for me to let go and I can’t. I even convince myself that there’s a purpose behind each thing I do, and no one could do it with out me. I find myself needing to learn how to balance my time and know when to say no… Learning to pace myself and slow down. Looking to find that perfect rhythm.
More and more over the past months I have found God revealing truth to me through the teaching of a man named Rob Bell. I don’t idolize him, because he’s no different from you or me, but God has used him as a vessel to speak to me in ways I can’t even describe. In one of his sermons he talked about how there is a rhythm to everything we do in life. This rhythm he suggested follows the pattern that God himself set for us. God worked for six days and on the seventh he rested. The seventh day became known as the Sabbath. We need a Sabbath, and we need it in a constant rhythm to keep us steady, and constantly renewed in our Lord. Sabbath is something to do on many levels, not just weakly. We need Sabbaths throughout our day, week, month and even year. We need this moment where we stop working we stop moving and we breathe. We breathe in the life God has for us, and we breathe out the troubles of our cluttered minds. We stop and remember our maker and all that he has done for us. When we rest we give him a chance to talk to us and we remove the spotlight from ourselves. We accept the moment as it is and forget about the work we have left to do. It’s easy to spend time with God when all we do is simply tell him our problems, but part of what makes it a relationship is allowing time to just rest and let God speak to us. Think about it… when God speaks great things happen! God spoke the universe in to existence. He thought of light and he spoke it in to existence. He thought of the earth and the stars and all the galaxies that surround us and he spoke them into existence. When Christ was walking among us he spoke and calmed the sea. Great things happen when we let God do the talking. Sabbath is a moment when we let God do all the talking. Sabbath is refreshing, calming, and it focuses us on God. Sabbath is holy. Sabbath is a moment we analyze how we are doing and where we’re at with God.
I recently realized that not only had I become overwhelmingly busy, but that I had lost sight of my Sabbath. I had lost my Sabbath time as well as my devotional time. I was taught by a leader this year to guard that time with God, but somehow I had let it slip. When I had time set apart it kept me strong, but since I let it slip I found myself week, alone and desperate for a moment with my creator… The psalmist says, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” Slowing down is key to balancing your relationship with God, as well as keeping yourself healthy. There is a strong correlation between rest and health. In Time Magazine there was an article on how people who took time to rest actually aided their body’s healing process. The article also talked about the fact that this is not a new concept, but rather an old one rediscovered. People in India have been practicing certain relaxation techniques for thousands of years. It would seem the some things in our brains occur naturally long before we can ever put a scientific label on them. For us we simply need to stop being so busy. It’s easy to get busy; therefore it’s easy to get out of fellowship with God. When we let ourselves run dry we find ourselves having communion with empty cups and moldy bread. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the word rest is part of the word restore. The psalms say “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 91 puts it beautifully when it says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” When was the last time you rested in the shadow of the lord? In the book of Matthew Jesus says, “”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Mark we find Jesus tired and worn out, so he takes the disciple to a place of quiet to get some rest. (not without getting interrupted by 5,000 hungry people, but nonetheless) I’d like to leave you with a beautiful hymn, which for me says it all…
“Jesus, I am resting, resting In the joy of what thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of thy loving heart. Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee, As thy beauty fills my soul, For by thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.
Jesus, I am resting, resting In the joy of what thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of thy loving heart.
O how great thy lovingkindness, Vaster, broader than the sea! O how marvelous thy goodness Lavished all on me! Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is thine, Know thy certainty of promise And have made it mine.
Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus, I behold thee as thou art, And thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart; Satisfies its deepest longings, Meets, supplies its every need, Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed.
Ever lift thy face upon me As I work and wait for thee; Resting ‘neath thy smile, Lord Jesus, Earth’s dark shadows flee. Brightness of my Father’s glory, Sunshine of my Father’s face, Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with thy grace.”
