When the days and hours and weeks blend into one another, and you ask when we all can get together for wine and conversation and I look at my calendar dumbfounded,
When we try to open up a day to see you and the only day we all have open is in six weeks on a Thursday,
When my children look at me with forlorn eyes on a Sunday morning because they are as exhausted as I am, and their mouths say please-can-we-stay-home because Saturday was spent rushing here and there with soccer games and easy-ups and trips to Target,
When I look around at my cozy but cluttered home and the projects waiting to be attacked, when I walk through my garage piled high with last month’s to-do lists,
And when I have to cut lunch hours short and coffee dates short and play-dates short because I just cannot do it all,
I understand the need for Sabbath.
When my work-sixty-hours-a-week husband comes home from church on Sunday, circles deep under his eyes, when he’s done good work there for His people but he has bled for it, and I wonder how he will be able to recharge before tomorrow’s emails weigh him down again,
When I am still crossing things off my list from last Friday but I have not been idle, and I wonder if maybe I’ve taken on too much,
When my littlest asks to play with me and I must limit it to just a few minutes and it pains me to sit back down at my computer,
I understand the need for Sabbath.
I understand the need for rest.
But there is something about this life that we think we must lead that flies directly in the face of true heart-opened, soul-resting Sabbath. There is something about this busy-heart that leads to a cluttered soul. And a cluttered soul cannot rest.
Maybe Sabbath is simply saying “no” to more.
And maybe rest is simply saying “yes” to grace.
Do you agree that a cluttered soul cannot rest? What does Sabbath mean to you today? This week?
This post is part of the 31 Days of Rest series | read the rest
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Beautiful, friend. Just beautiful. The honesty and vulnerability in your writing humbles me.
Agreed – a cluttered soul cannot rest. The trouble (at least, to me) is figuring out how to clear out some space, some room to breathe the forgiveness in grace. I’ve always wanted to reserve an entire day for God, but it’s a tricky sort of idea that easily turns legalistic for me. So more recently, I’ve been thinking hard about the purpose of the Sabbath. It seems to me these days that it’s not the *duration* that counts most, but rather *the act* of purposeful focus on Him. (Thoughts?) So I’ve resolved to start small: a half-hour silence, every Wednesday (and today, incidentally, is the first time I’m trying this.)
No reading, no journaling…just stillness.
Listening.
i love this sonika!
So I tried…and fell asleep. In the middle of the afternoon :/ Guess I need more rest…
Couldn’t agree more, Sarah! I think so many of us need to say “no” more, to just “be still and know”. It’s hard for many people to do that, but in the end, I think everyone benefits from a little downtime.
This series is great! I look forward to it everyday!
i’m so glad christina!
Wow, that really spoke to me. Thank you.
you are very welcome!
Sometimes I just need quiet. No music, no noises, just a place for my soul to rest. And even if it is only a few minutes it is the sabbath I needed to keep me going.
yes. me too!
I could not have said it better. I have been struggling with that in the past few weeks and have decided to cut back on things in order spend more time with God and my family! Thank you!
you are welcome!
I so struggle with making time for REST. Your writings are tugging at my heart. Reallllly tugging.
I thank you Sarah.
thank you Jessica!
I was always taught that sabbath means no chores & no unnecessary work. I’m continuing that in my own family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Its truly about a day of rest & worship.
that’s beautiful miranda!
sarah, thank you for sharing. i too have come to appreciate the need for a sabbath. i rarely give up church for time because i find rest there, but i have learned to say no to plans after, yes to family time, yes to things that fill us rather than wear us thin.. i have begun to protect. this rest and look forward to it.
i love it kris! so glad that church is a place of rest for you!
Sarah, I have recently started following you…thank you for sharing your thoughts and encouragement!so openly and transparently! Its refreshing to see someome so honost who i can relate to! This post speaks directly to me….I often wonder if I will ever get to slow down and yesterday as I drove into work I thought..”I am eternally tired!”. I need to schedule time with my husband because there is so much booked all of the time! Going to have to start saying “no”…looking to take some rest in my life and honor the Sabbath….in some capacity. Thanks for sharing!
so glad you are here! and thank you for commenting!
reading in a book entitled “spiritual rhythm” by mark buchanan is kind of amazing…helpful to me in many ways…to give me a sense of being okay even in my busy-ness…
he suggest we take Jesus literally when He tells us, “unless you become like little children you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven…” he says that moving at “God’s speed” is an important skill to cultivate. for parents of young children who can never take a full day off each month, much less each week…he suggests what you have often said & showed in your blog…totally attending your children…for THEY are already moving at “God’s speed”…so…as we attend them, God reaches in & finds us in this fresh encounter…
this can be & SHOULD be our sabbath…leaving all our cares behind in their precious presence right next to Jesus!
isn’t that cool? i think he’s right!
love ya so much,
dad
indeed, saying yes to grace.
I can so relate to this. I’ve had such a full week and still so much to do this weekend Sometimes it just seems never ending. But tomorrow I plan to make some space for some much needed rest.
I’ve seen this in my own life the past couple of weeks. Busy, busy and now my body is feeling the need for Sabbath. I can’t serve with the gifts God has given me if I do not slow down and observe Sabbath.
“yes” to grace. so speaks to me of rest. thank you
When my 12 1/2 year old daughter daughter died unexpectedly last year, “BE STILL AND KNOW” was what just kept coming to me over and over and over. But I kept screaming back at God– “HOW?” It is truly difficult for me to be quiet–but to quiet my mind is almost impossible. “A cluttered mind cannot rest” is so very, very true.
such a lovely series Sarah …