This past weekend I got the incredible opportunity to get away for an entire three days. Yes, that’s right. And no, I don’t mean the type of vacation where you come back and feel exhausted and need a vacation from your vacation.
No obligations, no list of to do’s, no schedule, no where to be. NOTHING.
I took naps, went on walks, took a hike, played volleyball with people I didn’t know, hammock-ed by the lake, and rested.
This concept of rest is pretty foreign in our culture. We believe that every moment of our time must be filled with productivity and we must always be accomplishing something or we are worthless. At least that’s what I feel. And when we do finally “rest”, its doing brain dead activities like watching T.V.
God literally commands us to rest (aka…Sabbath). But as Christians, we wrongly consider our Sunday’s as a Sabbath.
NEWS FLASH:
GOING TO CHURCH, SERVING, EATING OUT, PLAYING WITH FRIENDS, DOING HW, AND PLAYING SPORTS IS NOT A SABBATH.
You’re just being busy with different things than you normally are on a weekday. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. But it isn’t resting.
Many people (cough cough, my mom, cough cough) ..love you mom (; may wonder how I could consider setting aside three days to be still when i have a never ending to do list before leaving the country and an even bigger list of people to say goodbye to. To those people I say: Let me tell you what those three days did for me.
I came back refreshed and energized to conquer those things on my To Do list.
God turned my focus away from the waves of fear to his radiating peace.
I was able to pour out my heart to God. My fears, my worries, my anger..everything.
I was able to listen as God spoke truth into my life.
God revealed things that I needed to Surrender to Him.
I was open to what God wanted to teach me.
I got excited for what God is doing in my life.
I heard God’s voice in a way I haven’t in a really long time.
God renewed my spirit.
It was a pretty incredible weekend. God and I talked for hours and it grew my relationship and intimacy with Him. I now feel more ready than ever to leave the country for 9 months.
What would it do in your life if you regularly took a Sabbath? Maybe it would give you energy to accomplish that to do list. Maybe you would hear God’s voice that the business in your life has been drowning out. I don’t know what exactly it will do for you. But, I bet you wont regret it.
