Do you feel like you get enough rest? Do you regularly do things that energize or breathe life into you?

These are questions that time and time again come at me. They are things that I know are important, but more often than not, I’m likely to feel like I can’t do much about them in the thick of life.

These questions were also posed to me during a discipleship training in which I took part several years ago. I knew where they were going with it as the next question was posed…

Do you honor the Sabbath?

I knew what my answer should be.  Unfortunately, my answer was simply, no. And at the time, I thought my reasons were completely validated. After all, I was working full-time during the week and then serving at church on Sundays.  And then I needed to get things done at home in preparation for the week. I squeezed in moments of rest when I could, but I was giving God (and if I’m honest, my family) my leftovers. It hit me pretty hard that I was not honoring God, and doing myself and my family an injustice. My intentions were great, but my priorities were not. But where to begin? What exactly was Sabbath supposed to look like? That day in a crowded auditorium, Sabbath as I thought I knew it was about to be flipped on its head.

As Christians, we often view our work responsibilities as diligently putting our hand to the plow and then we view a Sabbath day as a time of rest from all work.  Our model is God’s seven days of creation, where He worked six and then rested. (Genesis 2:2) And He certainly deserved it; but as if He needed it, right? He’s God. And I never really examined or questioned that before. He rested not because He was was tired and needed a break. What if it was because He wanted to model for His children how we might approach our work more effectively?

God created man, Adam, on Day 6.  Adam’s first day was Day 7.  Adam’s first day was a day of rest, and he approached his first week with rest first.  This point introduced a new notion to me — to consider resting before working so that my work comes from abiding in Him, not a depleted resource from a strictly human effort.  For me, this was quite radical. To shift my posture of doing all the things all week, then asking God to restore me from my hard labor, to rather, prioritizing the space and time to abide in Christ, and then inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to dwell within me fully so that I can go out and do work with grace, anointing, and power all week.

Work from rest.  This felt good. This felt better. Now, to find space for that rest….

As I previously shared, I was giving God and my family my leftovers. That was very convicting to me. They are the ones who should get my best! God knows this, and He commanded we use the Sabbath day because it is so very important to how we are designed by Him to live our lives.  In Exodus 34:21, He commanded, “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest.  In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.” (Sound familiar?  It’s #4 of the Ten Commandments and the longest commandment with the most qualifications, I might add.)

Years ago, family friends of ours decided that they would honor the Sabbath on Saturday (note: it’s okay to have Sabbath on a day other than Sunday; we’re commanded to honor the Sabbath, not a specific day), and they challenged the rest of our small group to do the same. As part of honoring that day, our friends decided that they would open their house each Saturday morning and have a ‘come as you are’ breakfast. This was a space for our families to come together, share about how God was working in our lives the past week, and share any prayer requests for the week ahead. There was accountability for honoring this day with rest as everyone shared their plans for their Sabbath days.  This became a rhythm for all families in our group and as a result, the kids too were seeing the model of a God-centered community and what it looked like to work from rest.

Influenced by our friends and other growing families around us, our family knew we needed to get better at this discipline. In turn, we decided that we would honor the Sabbath on Saturday as well, realizing Sundays did not feel very restful at all…getting up early for church, rushing out of the house, volunteering, and often attending meetings and such.

Our family worked to honor a Sabbath from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, similar to the Jewish tradition. Once we identified the day, we focused on what our Sabbath day would and would not look like—and planned how we would spend time as a family on that Sabbath each week.  We learned that what was life-breathing to me was not the same as my husband or my kids. My “rest” looked very different from theirs. (And rest was a LOT harder for me!)  Therefore, as a family, we needed to discuss what “rest” felt like to each of us, and how we might build that into our Sabbath so that we each got the rest we needed while honoring the day as a family.  Most importantly, we needed to invite God into this day.

Over the years, we have fallen prey to getting busy and neglecting our Sabbath rest, but it is a rhythm our family greatly misses if we are not intentional and consistent. We know we need to work to keep an open dialogue around what fuels us, holding each other accountable for rest.

Sabbath provides us with margin, which is critically needed if we want to continue to grow spiritually. When I have no margin, how might I respond when a crisis hits? With no margin, how do I have the capacity to grow?  With no margin, how might I have space to listen and be available for others? You get the picture.

God speaks to me often through others and through repetition (yes, I often need to be hit upside the head!). The topic of rest keeps hitting me. As a community of women I know are getting ready to dive into a Bible study about slowing down, I knew God was nudging me yet again about my Sabbath, and I now find myself examining how well (or unwell) I am resting and how this rhythm is needed in my life and in our family. What better time than a new year, a new beginning,to get back on track? For me, this means that I will be refocusing my Saturdays again as a Sabbath, and coming up with a plan to make that rhythm consistent.  

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

The Holy Spirit is our Power. Maintaining a regular rhythm of allowing ourselves to be fueled and empowered with the Holy Spirit equips us to do His work.  I can’t think of a better, more focused way of getting refueled than by regularly honoring the Sabbath.

What does it look like for you and your family to honor the Sabbath this year? How can you draw on His power through Sabbath? Share your ideas with us in the comments!

Please pray with me. 
Lord, I thank You that You crafted the perfect model of resting and working, and I’m sorry that I do not always hold steadfast to it. I pray You help me and my family to honor it by protecting our time and blessing it as we give that time to You. Help me to abide in You and not in my endless to-do lists. Thank You for Your word and Your example. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.