One day God spoke to me ~ “I’ve been trying to get your attention lately, but you’re too busy to let Me in.”
Well He certainly got my attention when He said that!
I’m a striver. My natural inclination is to achieve. The goal is always high quality output. Excellence is my drug of choice. But as I sit here surveying my life, excellence looks shameful wearing a crown that belongs to my King.
The truth is I’m tired. By striving for excellence all the time I put myself on an endless treadmill and the pace is intensifying. My quest has kept me running until my soul is bankrupt. I need rest. I need to breathe. I need to flush my spirit of this frenzy.
As I reflect on my current state my eyes are drawn to the Sabbath. Since I’m in full disclosure mode right now I’m going to make another true confession. I am not good at Sabbathing.There is very little time to handle my home life responsibilities. And though I try to jam everything into Saturday I inevitably find myself working on some level on Sunday. Even if I’m not physically working, my mind doesn’t rest. If my arms aren’t full, my mind surely is. I’m not managing my life well.
Genesis 1 tells the story of creation. No doubt God could have rolled all six days of creation into one. But He didn’t. God paced Himself. He created one segment of His plan daily until everything came together perfectly. Not only did God bring the world and its inhabitants to life but He also gave us a blueprint for the work He knew would become a regular part of our lives. So in the beginning He showed us how to perform effectively without experiencing burnout.
Once the earth and all of its inhabitants were maden God made the seventh day a Sabbath. It was to be a day of rest and rest God Almighty did. Folks, God didn’t need rest. He wasn’t wiped out. He’s all-powerful. He is an endless stream of energy, vibrant and alive. But being the good teacher that He is, He took the time to model the wisest way to approach work and rest. Do we follow His model? On the whole I would say no. When I look at the world around me, I see people rushing to and fro just as I do. We are movers and shakers – ambitious and foolish. Our world is moving at a faster clip than ever and we’re running to keep up. Tired is the new normal, isn’t it? We need to start seeing a Sabbath, our day of rest, as an absolute necessity not just to rejuvenate but also to be obedient to God’s command. It’s in our best interests that we make the Sabbath a high priority weekly. (Are you listening, Lynn?)
Not only do we need a Sabbath but we also need to follow God’s work strategies. He approached His work one day at a time completing only the responsibilities at hand. He didn’t lie awake at 2 a.m. wondering how He would hang the moon and stars the following day. At the close of each day He surveyed His work and gave Himself a stamp of approval for a job well done. Excellence! See? Even God has an achieving nature. JGod’s mercies are new every morning. He has given each of us enough strength to make it through THIS day. And when we wake up tomorrow we will have a new batch of mercies waiting for us.
My friends, I firmly believe that there is a spiritual conspiracy playing out in our world. We are busier than ever. And that’s the way the enemy wants to find us. If we’re never still we will lose our ability to be alert. If we don’t rest we will become fatigued and lose our capacity to fight the good fight.
Let us strive to follow our Father’s patterns. Let us honor Him by honoring His Sabbath. Let us keep our feet and minds firmly planted in the present. And when we do we will be refreshed and ready to face whatever the day brings.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 10:8
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. Psalm 23:1-3a
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
