I stepped out of my routine for a week traveling to Costa Rica with my sister. My laptop was left on my desk and I ceased all writing projects at whatever point of undone they happened to be. This included a social media challenge for the month of May. My last post from the calendar was May 22.
This summer I am pursuing rest and this trip was the launching point.
Packed in my bookbag were two books highlighting the theme. My church’s summer Bible study for women, “Rest for Your Soul” and “Rhythms of Rest, Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World.”1
As my week at the Coast Beach Hotel in Tamarindo stretched before me I felt restless. My thought at home, flipping through the pages of a guidebook purchased at Barnes and Noble and scrolling the Internet, was to find a day tour that explored rainforests and put you in the vicinity of swinging bridges. Also, I was drawn to coffee plantations and roasters that would reveal the nuances of their beans.
Afternoons on a chase lounge in a shaded area near the beach, succumbing to short naps, reading an entire chapter of a book without breaking to put clothes in the dryer seemed lackluster. Not an ingredient for adventure. Visits to national parks and plantations are educational, worthwhile, and experiential. But lessons about rest?
Sabbath is mentioned frequently in books on rest. Yet it is not the required stepping away from work on the 7th day described in the Old Testament. In Christ, Christians can observe the Sabbath according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Got Questions Ministries explains—“Colossians 2:16 says, “Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.” Here “Sabbath day” refers to any Jewish holiday, including the seventh day of the week. The main point for the Christian is that we are no longer under the requirements of the Hebrew Law. We are under the law of grace. God’s law is now written on our hearts, and we are now a new creation.”2
The Hebrew word for Sabbath rest provides insight into why it might be beneficial to all of us who are saved by grace through faith in Christ and not by works. [Ephes. 2:8] This word is sabat, which means “to rest or stop or cease from work.” When we rest from our labors, we realize that we don’t keep the earth spinning on its access. We are not capable of holding everything together by sustaining, providing, and solving problems. Only God has such ability and power and we need to abide rather than strive.
Here are a few things about rest I have picked up from the books I am reading.
–In busyness we miss a lot.
The day before Father’s Day I volunteered to drive up and down a section of the course for a century bicycle ride looking for cyclists in distress. One rider failed to notice a stop sign at an intersection as he peddled with his head down, concentrating on the task at hand. He rode across a two-lane highway without looking for oncoming cars. Thankfully, there was no traffic when he darted across the roadway.
What do we miss when we don’t take time to look up? It could be direction God is giving, or revelation about Himself, or a solution to a problem. Rest creates space apart from busyness and provides opportunity for new perspective.
–Sabbath provides space between us and our problems.
“When the mind is focused entirely on a problem, we lose sight of God’s place within it. We pit ourselves against all the details as if the problem is ours to conquer immediately,” writes Shelly Miller, author of Rhythms of Rest. Sabbath allows us to see the problem from God’s perspective, often with surprising results. Finding solutions is a form of busyness, she adds.
–Spending focused time with God strengthens our relationship.
I seem to live life focused on purpose. Therefore, I love, serve, write, create, build, encourage… do things I deem will make a difference, impact the world for good. But as I read about rhythms of rest the idea that God’s words aren’t just for discipline, they are filled with personal messages of love sticks firmly in my mind. God created us for a deep relationship with him. The best way to connect is in solitude without distractions.
I don’t know where this pursuit of rest will lead. But it is my focus this summer. I will share my discoveries in future blogs.
©2024 Susan Cort Johnson *All Rights Reserved
Image from Pixabay
Resources
1a-Rest for Your Soul, A Bible study on Solitude, Silence, & Prayer by Wendy Blight published by HarperChristian Resources in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1b-Rhythms of Rest, Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World by Shelly Miller published by BethanyHouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2-www.GotQuestions.org, Question: “Does God require Sabbath-keeping of Christians?”