Let's Hear it for a Sabbath!

It’s been a hard week and an especially difficult day. I could write out a list of things that BJ and I “should” do tomorrow (especially in light of this week), but instead we will be taking a Sabbath…a day of rest.

It seems as though “rest” has become dirty four-letter word in our Western society. How many times have you said or heard some variation of, “rest…what’s that?” Instead of valuing rest as something we need before we set out to do our work, we often view it as the collapse we experience after running our lives to the point of exhaustion. Instead of honoring our need for rest and supporting the need for rest in each other, we feel shame and guilt associated with this sacred act.

And while I will be the first to raise my hand and admit that I am often the poster-child for collapsing rather than resting, I have to confess that I don’t think this is what we were designed for…

First of all, Jesus rested. Yes, he also worked very hard…but He would regularly retreat from the crowds to be alone with His Father. When God was telling Moses things like, “Don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery…”, He also told him to honor the Sabbath. Rest is close the heart of God. In fact, it is often in our rest that we discover the heart of God. (for other scripture related to this, look at Proverbs 23:4 and Matthew 6:25-34)

Secondly, it’s unnatural not to rest. Running ourselves to the point of collapse when we finally “have to rest” seems unnatural. We live in an incredibly beautiful world and I cannot believe that we were designed to live such high-stress, fast-paced lives that we would miss it. The natural world calls us to rest. Our bodies naturally function better after rest. We are healthier, can think clearer and perform better after we have rested well. It would appear that our bodies were not made for the constant level of pressure we often put them through. Instead, our bodies need rest in the same way they need water and oxygen.

So tomorrow is our day of rest. Rest for our bodies, rest for our spirits, rest for our minds, even rest for our marriage. I can’t wait!