Finding Rest
I recently came across an article that stated that almost two-thirds of American consumers have at least one unspent gift card tucked away in their homes. And at least half of those consumers lose a gift card before they use it. I cringe to think about how many gift cards I was grateful to receive, only to go on to lose. I can vividly recall standing in front of a cashier, looking through my wallet thinking…I know I have that gift card in here somewhere! I was given a gift, but never experienced its full value. Apparently, I am not alone. The study estimates that Americans have a collective $21 billion in unspent gift cards!
I shared Matthew 11:28 with a friend recently – in this verse, Jesus said that we can come to Him when we are exhausted and weary and He will give us rest. My friend pointed out that rest is the root of the word “restoration,” which got me thinking. Jesus offered us a path to restoration, a wonderful gift, but many of us (myself included) ignore this gift and let it go unrealized.
I believe that God is the only source of true restorative rest. Rest is at the heart of the word we use for Sabbath. The Sabbath, and its implications from the beginning, was intended as a generous gift for God’s people. We find in Exodus 20:11 that because God finished creation in six days and then rested on the seventh day, God also invited His people to rest after six days of labor. When He modeled taking a Sabbath rest on the seventh day of creation, God wanted us to experience the type of restoration that only He can give us.
Why did God rest? I do not think it was because He was tired, rather it was because He had accomplished His objective and wanted to give us a beautiful model for our need for rest. He was giving us a gift. Until we recognize our limits and allow the body, mind, and spirit to take time to restore, we will constantly be on the edge of burning out. As Ray Steadman puts it, “The Sabbath is God's stress management program. It is how to prevent burnout – how to recover from too much pressure and catch up with yourself. It is how to gather yourself together and become able to handle the work you must do.” I think many believers today misunderstand the Sabbath. They see how some have abused it and allowed it to become a strange and rigid set of rules to follow. The Sabbath is not a burden to carry, it is a gift that can restore our souls.
The Sabbath was also given for us to take the time to pause the daily grind to remember that God is the one doing the heavy lifting in our lives. God said to Israel in Deuteronomy, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15) In the old covenant, the Israelites were commanded to rest to reflect on God's ability to work beyond the labors they had already completed. While this is not a rigid rule we must follow, I believe some of us might be missing out on the blessing of receiving God’s gift of Sabbath rest.
Would you join me today in praying this simple prayer?
“Father, amid the hustle and bustle of my life, teach me that I need to enter into the rest of creation and redemption, always remembering that Your work comes before my work.”
Expectantly,
Shawn
