June 9, 2020

Sabbath Longings

2020 has been quite the year…to put it mildly. From impeachment to coronavirus to unemployment to racial injustice. We all need some good old fashioned rest.

How can we rest when we’re in such upheaval? Why should we rest when others are in such unrest? Where can we go to rest when we’ve upended rest at home? Who can advocate for rest amidst such turmoil?

On Friday I’m teaching an online workshop on Sabbath rest. I’m going to propose that it’s not only a commandment, but it’s also a gift, a blessing, and a joy for all Christ followers. Including you…the worn out, weary-in-well-doing, well-meaning servant of God.

Find rest, o my soul, in God alone (Psalm 62:1). No headline in the news, no matter how grandiose or how bland the news day may be (something we haven’t seen for a very long time!), will bring you rest. No experience or possession or relationship or responsibility, no matter how meaningful, will bring you rest. Only God is the source of true rest.

That’s why the Sabbath was ordained. On the heels of creation God rested. And he delighted in the work of his hands. But, he rested. And then he invites and invokes Sabbath on his people – all for love’s sake. God is pro work and pro rest, held in tension with one another, but both matter to him.

So, in the midst of a pandemic and within the heaviness of racial inequality and when you’re uncertain about so much of your inner and exterior world today…take some rest. When you find rest you will deepen trust. And enriched trust evokes heightened hope. Hope is what we need today.

Rest. For God’s sake: rest. For your family’s sake: rest.  For your world’s sake: rest. For your sake: rest. My soul finds rest in God alone. Truly, my soul, find rest in God alone. My soul, find rest in God alone. No matter how you say it, the path of rest leads you back home to God. And, there’s no place like home.

Your advocates for Sabbath Rest: the Leadership Transformations Team.