Imagine you are
at a concert of your favorite artist.
The music surrounds you, it builds and ebbs and fills you. You transcend time and space, caught up in
the bubble of melody and percussion while the rhythm and mood transport you
elsewhere. It doesn’t matter what style
of music or what type of song, music masterfully touches a visceral part of
us. Whether it’s light and fun or thick
and dramatic, when we give ourselves over to music it can be powerful.
The
construction of music is beyond my comprehension, but this morning when I was
thinking about my topic of rest, music came to mind. So, I looked up the definition of a musical
rest: A rest is an
interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a symbol
indicating the length of the pause.
The length and amount
of silence in music is what fascinated me.
If music didn’t have rests, think how exhausting it would be! This
brought to mind my own life rhythm. I am
guilty of having two speeds; off and fast which tends to look
like the strength-sapping velocity of the children’s song, The Song That Doesn’t End, rather than the storied tempo of a worship song.
I struggled
to find a rhythm to my new life and schedule when I moved to Tennessee. Working in ministry created a 24/7 type of
schedule even though I was part-time.
Combined with my coaching business and family, it was difficult to carve
out periods of rest. Rest is the ability to cease work or movement in order to
relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.
Through
prayer I was led to learn more about the Sabbath. You will find the Sabbath mentioned in the Ten Commandments.
Sandwiched between all the “Shall nots” are two commands that begin with
Honor and Remember. One has to do with
our parents and the other refers to rest.
I never enacted
a Sabbath day before; truth be told, I’ve had lazy days (remember my “off”
speed), but I never had a day that I kept holy through rest. I thought that this
might be a good start, so one Friday I prepped my meals and handled errands in
preparation of a Saturday Sabbath.
Saturday came and… I sat. Don’t get me wrong, I can sit with the best of
them, but something felt awkward. I felt
I was supposed to do something specific on top of all the stuff I wasn’t
supposed to do. I know that sounds a bit wacky, but here’s how it played out; I
caught myself wanting to make cookies and thought “Oh no! I can’t do that!” There were other “Oh no’s and can’t do’s!” throughout
the day which just ended up exhausting me.
I felt like I was wearing a strait jacket! It felt like a legalistic punishment rather
than a holy experience.
Shortly after
that exercise I found this Scripture in Mark 2:27, Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath.”
That blunder of
a Sabbath day revealed that REST did not just mean KEEPING STILL. True, stillness can be a powerful aspect to
rest and spiritual renewal, but keeping still
out of the fear of not doing it right, or a non-sacred obligation, isn’t what
God wants at all. So, I focused on things that would delight me and honor God. Cooking cookies delighted me (well, really
eating them did), so I did that with the Lord and remembered Him. Other things like hiking and creative outlets
fill me up and when I’m filled up with the Lord, it’s just plain good all
around.
It is still a
real challenge for me to keep the Sabbath.
Even though I have experienced the benefits of it, life can get busy. Sadly, busyness is a badge of honor that I
wear proudly. The embarrassing truth is
that sometimes I love what I get out of busyness more than I love what I get out of the
Sabbath – hit pause here though, because this busyness stuff is content for
another blog!
Even though
I knew about the Sabbath, I never really internalized the magnitude of it. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if someone
suddenly translated what Charlie Brown’s mother was saying, and the wha, wah, waa
became the startlingly truth that the Sabbath is a command. (For anyone sensitive to the word command, think of it as operating instructions
from the manufacturer. The Manufacturer and
Creator who knows what’s best for you.)
I had been
treating the Sabbath as if it was God’s recommendation or suggestion. Like an
elective that I could choose to do or not do.
But it’s not an elective, and this quote from Dallas Willard gave me a
hint why it isn’t: “Hurry is the great
enemy of spiritual life in our day. You
must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” My spiritual life is important to me and so I
need to engage in the struggle for its health. When I give hurry a place in my
heart, there is less room for the sacred. The Sabbath shifts hectic to holy.
After much
pondering, it all boils down to this for me; rest is a command and
Jesus says, three different times in John chapter 14, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Can you hear the
deflated echo of my spiritual heart? I do love Jesus, so this has become a
battle worth fighting for. It takes
effort and planning to rest. It takes
putting aside lies that say I am less worthy when I rest. It takes wisdom to
act on my love for Christ and rest.
Lastly, it helps to know that God was the first one to take a break!
When we make
this commandment an expression of our love to God, we create beautiful music
with our lives: EXODUS 20:8-11 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but
the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you
shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or
female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your
towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he
rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and made it holy.
Everything
has a rhythm and season. Dormancy is
part of the rhythm because it’s a time of regeneration. It is undercover work that shows up in ways
our friends and family can appreciate and participate in. Rest models how the Omnipotent operates and
allows us to teach our children how to be still and peaceful, rather than
anxious when idle. In holy rest we
experience joy because we are with Him (Psalm 16:11).
No
matter how much time you elect to have for your Sabbath, you accrue a spiritual
currency that will bring wealth to your soul.
Instead of a
frantic children’s song that never ends, your life can be a splendid musical
score with high swells and deep dives, marked by stunning rests where you abide
with God and compose a life song that will nurture your soul and glorify Him. This
can happen through Sabbath rest, not because you’re ‘supposed to’ but because
you love Jesus that much!
PONDER:
There is a
difference between rest and Sabbath rest.
Both are important.
REST:
1)
Our
bodies and minds need to physically rest, and sleep is one of the best ways to
regenerate. Sleep deprivation is the epidemic of our day, causing
detrimental health issues. On a scale of
1 to 10, (10 being excellent) how well are you resting your body and mind?
2)
How does rest, or lack
of rest, impact your spiritual life?
3)
Ponder the cost of not
resting.
SABBATH REST:
1)
What was your initial reaction
about rest being a ‘command’ from God?
2)
When you think of
‘holy rest’ what comes to mind?
3)
Do you carry any
misconceptions about rest and your worth?
WITNESS:
Who in your
life is a good example of rest and Sabbath rest?
What
benefits do you see in the lives of others who rest well, and rest well in God?
Who could
help you to rest better?
ACTION:
Document your time for
a couple weeks. After doing so you will
see what is really important to you, because we generally do what’s important
to us! Your values drive the decisions
you make with your time. What do the
facts say about what you value or what’s important to you? How do self-care
(rest) and spiritual care (Sabbath rest) factor in?
Coaching helps you
make changes in your life, in order to live the way you want to. If you are looking to get a handle on the
rhythm of your life, contact me and together we can craft a strategy to get you
where you and God want you to be.
SCRIPTURE
Exodus
20: Ten Commandments
And God spoke all
these words:
1)
“I
am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
2)
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.5 You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the
parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate
me, 6 but showing love to a
thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3)
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4)
8 “Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days
you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the
seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall
not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female
servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For
in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5)
12 “Honor
your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the
land the Lord your God is giving you.
6)
13 “You shall not murder.
7)
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
8)
15 “You shall not steal.
9)
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10) 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet
your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 When the people saw the thunder and
lightning and heard the trumpetand saw the mountain in smoke, they
trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and
said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God
speak to us or we will die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be
afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will
be with you to keep you from sinning.”
21 The people remained at a distance, while
Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
LAWS OF GOD:
REST
Exodus
23:10-12
10 “For six
years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the
seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your
people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the
same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “Six days
do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your
donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner
living among you may be refreshed.
13 “Be
careful to do everything I have said to you.
As a certified Christian Life Coach I can help you move from
where you are to where God wants you to be. If you are interested in finding
out what your values are then let’s chat. I'd
love to be your champion in what God is calling you to do!
#Karynisms
#EQandJesus #values #sleepdeprivation #sabbathrest #CoachKaryn
#emotionalintelligence #EQ #EI
