Be still and know..
I am not sure about you, but my personal experience in life is not “be still and know”, but rather live busy lives and then not know why we live busy lives. Society drives this compulsion to live a life that is busy as if busyness gives meaning and value to life.
The God of the universe created the world, life and humanity. His power, capacity, creativity, gifting, knowledge, and opportunity is endless and yet He still made time to be still. He rested.
Genesis 2 V2-3 says, “And on the seventh day God finished His work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.”
We all have ideas about rest, sabbath, a day off etc, but do we follow our great shepherd’s example and put great value on that rest? Do we take the time to “be still and know that He is God”? Sabbath rest is not a day of saying no to life but rather a day to say yes to the true meaning of a life dependent on our father, our creator, our shepherd, our Lord, our saviour.
I am embarrassed to admit that when my husband Mark first initiated the idea of having a weekly sabbath 6 years ago, I was not 100% on board. It sounded impossible. How do you have 24 hours of doing nothing with four young kids? All I saw were the hurdles: cooking enough food ahead of time for 24 hours, having all house jobs done so there is no work to do, saying no to every invitation, entertaining the kids without entertainment as an option, eating a feast in candlelight with delight, no cleaning up (so live with mess without letting it bug you), and do it all with joy, delight, oh yeah and rest!! It seemed impossible!
I did not have any vision or revelation of the glory of communion with God. I missed the wonder of freely saying yes to: feasting with my family in gratitude to God for sustaining us for another week, freely taking everything as slow as we wanted, freely including friends to share some or all of the time with us, freely engaging with my kids in unhurried time to just be together, freely being with my husband, freely saying yes to unhurried time with God. Whether we recognise it or not, God is sustaining our lives, working perfectly for our good. Rest time/ Sabbath is there for us in the seasons of much and in the seasons of little. Rest time/ Sabbath is there for us in seasons of delight and in seasons of mourning. Rest time/Sabbath is there for us in the seasons of singleness, married life, young family, or a family multiplying. Rest time/Sabbath is there for us when we are chasing dreams and visions, and when we are bored senseless. Rest in Him is always available. Do we have responsibilities? Absolutely! So did Christ and yet He prioritised rest with God.
“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11 V28-30
There are helpful rhythms and practices we have discovered to curate a space of rest for our ever-changing family. Sharing them would be a privilege, but please know this is not exhaustive. Part of Sabbath/ Rest is finding in God how to rest best and what that looks like for the current stage of your family or life.
Practices:
Rest for the body: what activities help you rest? It could be going for bush walks or hikes, time at the beach come rain or shine, game nights or getting a few friends together to play a game or activity. And let me also add that intimacy in marriage is very good for the body, mind and soul!
Rest for the mind: what spaces, and people help you rest? Community is a great way to help rest your mind. Having coffee with a friend, cooking a meal with friends and enjoying a slow pace to creating a feast together, exploring an aspect of your character that you have not given time to, or maybe writing down some thoughts in your head you keep ignoring.
Rest for the soul: what spiritual habits help you rest? Worship, meditative prayer, reading the scriptures in an unhurried way, being with the family of God, laughter, and naps are always good for the soul (naps can be very spiritual).
Again, this is not an exhaustive list and we are all very different. If you are married, then ask your partner what helps them rest. Think about your kids- it may not be loving to make them sit through a slow reading of Leviticus as they rest. Think about your week and put it in. Sabbath is not convenient but it is good. Sabbath is not (always) easy but it is worth it. Sabbath is not understood but you will gain much understanding of life through practising it. Sabbath rest in Him is a gift from God. All we “have to do” is accept it. I appeal to you brothers and sisters in Christ- if we are truly going to be light into this world, then we should be unhurriedly drawing from our true source of light as often as we can.
Psalm 46 V 10 “Be still and know….” Rest in His strength, His joy, His grace, His forgiveness, His faithfulness, His wisdom, His peace, His plan, His love, and His life. Rest in His Rest!
