Stopping intentionally to practice a Sabbath day tangibly helps us apply the principles we’ve been exploring in this series. While we are resting, God is always working. He doesn’t “need” us to do anything but allows us to join Him in His kingdom work here on earth. Taking a Sabbath helps us see the difference between what is essential in our lives and what we’ve allowed to remain as the illusion of being necessary.
Many impactful and timeless literary works speak about the significance of the Sabbath in our lives. Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Brueggemann, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva Dawn, and The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel immediately comes to mind as an invaluable resource for researching and developing our rhythm. Find a way to set apart some intentional time in your week to make the space you desire the Lord to fill with rest. Have a conversation with your family about what this can and will look like as you establish this rhythm in your life. There is nothing inherently spiritual about taking a day to rest. But, when we take the day and are focused on our hopes for it, we begin to experience the spiritual benefits. Thank God for the physical rest you get to participate in and see it fully for what it is as something contrary to our everyday life. Proactively lean into acknowledging the ways God is at work on our behalf, apart from what we contribute to our effort.
With all these things, we don’t want to allow the rhythms to become idols. These are all examples of various pathways to connect with God. Routine can help us find a comfortable structure that can lend us experience that we might not have without the intentional step forward. We must ask the Spirit of God to minister to and guide us through the process. 2 Corinthians 3:4–6 says, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
We will do what we know to do: position ourselves by practicing the rhythms for the Lord to do His work in our lives. Only God can provide true soul rest.
To learn more about the spiritual discipline of Sabbath, check out the tenth episode of QAVA’s Reset series.
