Receiving Rest
How one day of Sabbath shapes the other six
I never really learned how to rest—at least not until my mid-twenties or so. Sabbath, a once-a-week 24-hour period to stop, rest, delight, and worship, has been the catalyst for me. It’s taken that entire decade (and more) to learn what receiving rest actually looks like. And learning to receive it one day per week has taught me how to receive it the other six days as well.
I’ve found myself asking questions like:
What does it mean to receive God’s rest?
What things personally restore me?
In what ways do I resist God’s rest and do I even really do that?
When our identity is so tied to what we produce, receiving rest can become complicated. More questions come up like:
Do I even deserve rest—did I do enough to earn it?
What about everything that still needs to be done?
Is this the best use of my time?
Below are some of the invitations I’ve sensed from God as I’ve received Sabbath rest over the past ten years. These have come about very slowly. And they are much more about becoming who God made me to be than about checking a Sabbath box—or even being rested for the week to come.
While there are many invitations for rest below, I typically sense God inviting me into one main thing. God isn’t in the business of overwhelming us. His burden is light, and I suspect his invitations are often light, too.
As you read, ask: What might be one invitation I sense from God in how to receive his rest?
Perhaps choosing one below, pondering it, and then processing it through prayer and journaling could spark some discoveries.
God—the Creator of the universe and our souls—is offering you and me rest. That’s his part. Our part is choosing whether or not we will receive it.
In receiving these truths and invitations from God week after week, Sabbath after Sabbath, they have not remained contained to one twenty-four hour period. I have begun to practice “mini” sabbaths or moments of solitudes (times of silence and retreat) as the other days allow as well, even for a few minutes. The unfortunate truth is that many of us need to learn how to rest. The fortunate truth is this rest is an incredible gift that will bring so much good to our lives if we are willing to open our hands and receive.
Receiving Your Rest
Receiving your rest means offering you my burdens. I list them one by one, all the things I want to accomplish, figure out, or hold onto—emotionally, spiritually, relationally, physically.
Receiving your rest means doing one thing at a time. On Sabbath, there is no rush because I have nowhere to be but here. I do not need to maximize my time but rather I am invited to linger in time, savoring it.
Receiving your rest means noticing what comes up within me. It means not pushing past feelings but taking time to become present to them. It means being still and present with God, welcoming whatever is in me.
Receiving your rest means saying yes to play and spontaneity that will restore me. It means saying yes not out of obligation, but rather out of delight.
Receiving your rest means accepting that I cannot meet every need nor was I ever intended to. It means accepting the limit of my humanity and trusting you to meet my needs today.
Receiving your rest means affirming that I am a human with needs. I need sleep, love, care, and more. Today I allow Jesus to meet me in those needs.
Receiving your rest means not hurrying. How often, on Sabbath, I find myself moving quickly, not out of necessity but out of habit. Today I choose to move slowly hoping to carry this resistance to hurry into the other six days.
Receiving your rest means letting go of control over the day and trusting you to provide. Some of my desires for Sabbath may come to pass; others will not. Whatever comes, I choose to receive.
Receiving your rest means becoming present to this moment as it actually is. It means hearing my children play without redirecting them to a task. It means gazing out the window at the world around my home. It means turning to wonder at all I encounter. It means receiving each moment as it is, not as it should be, because I have let go of control.
Receiving your rest means ceasing from the anticipation of what is to come. It means not laboring over future conversations or work but believing I will have all I need to meet those things when they arrive, and for now I can cease from preparing for them.
Receiving your rest means breathing deeply and listening to my body. It means not pushing my body in disciplines of improvement or guilt but rather seeking to bring restoration to this body you gave me. Do I need to walk? To exercise? To stretch? What will provide rest and healing to my body for the past week?
Receiving your rest means remembering I am not a slave: to work, people, productivity, or money.
Receiving your rest means remembering it is not a reward for my actions but a gift from God. It means I do not have to earn rest.
Receiving your rest means believing
I have enough.
Receiving your rest means believing
I am enough.
Receiving your rest means believing
You are enough.