Before my full-time job became support raising, I didn't practice a day of rest or Sabbath. I didn't know what it looked like to rest for a day, and quite frankly, I'm still trying to figure that out every week. (If you have favorite ways you find rest on the Sabbath, please send them my way!) It's been a struggle for me to figure out what to do on these days and not waste them by sleeping in or binging Netflix all day. A couple weeks ago, I realized I needed more than just one day to truly rest in the Lord. And now I’ve come to understand that it’s okay to need more than one rest day some weeks. It doesn't mean I'm doing something wrong; it just means I'm human and can't do everything on my own. I need to trust that the Lord will meet me in the midst of my weakness.
After resting for a couple days, I decided to research a little more about the idea of rest starting with its definition and was surprised by my search results. Here are the 3 definitions I found on Safari:
- cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength
- be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position
- be based on or grounded in; depend on
While reading these, I thought of a progression to find rest in God. First, we are asked to stop working for a certain length of time. For me, this is the hardest part because it means that I am forced to admit my dependency on Christ, reject my desire to do everything for myself, and confess my pride.
Second, we need to seek God to be supported by Him, staying in a specified position for a period of time. This can look different for everyone depending on how you relate most to God. Some examples could be reading Scripture, praying, listening to worship music, reflecting/journaling, walking/running/hiking, or sitting in complete stillness.
Third, when we spend time with God, we realign our priorities with His and become grounded in Him. We depend on Him to do what we need to accomplish for the week or day. It's a cycle to be repeated throughout our lives. Some weeks or months, we might need to rest more often, and that’s perfectly okay, too.
Rest may not be something that we particularly want to do each week. It might feel safer for us to continue pursuing our worldly pursuits on our own accord. However, rest is a command and gift from God. Because He has established the way we should live, He must know that there is goodness and blessing on the other side of obedience.
I want to end with a playlist that helped me find deeper rest after my reflection, and I hope you can find rest through it, too.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FMyBZdJEzTrTUtgDGkSvR?si=ba98d10c2bc447e8
Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV) "Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will never be shaken."
God of rest—grant that our souls can find rest in You