Is the REST history?
Sundays
Growing up, Sundays were meant for going to church, having family time, visiting with family friends and maybe taking an afternoon nap. Doing anything like sports, hobbies — not to mention shopping — was generally seen as sinful in our society.
Over time things changed — more shops were open on Sundays and it became more acceptable to do your shopping, play different sports or hobbies and even catch up on school work. We all felt somehow more “free” now to do all sorts of things on Sundays. I remember in high school, my friend and her family were somehow counter culture by choosing to truly take a Sabbath rest on Sundays, and not to shop or catch up on homework and studies. The interesting thing was that they didn’t do it from a place of obligation or religion, but from a place of gladly choosing and enjoying it!
Running hard
Fast forward about 20 years and I found myself working in the Middle East, being involved in ministry, running businesses and involved in daily operations of an NGO — just doing too much for too long — and being close to burnout. And it wasn’t because I was doing things I hated. The majority of it was initially life giving and things that I chose, pioneered and developed.
By the end of 2017 I sensed God speaking to me about rest. We had our weekly team meeting, and my friends were doing listening prayer with their kids — asking God to remind them what they learned that week. They had discussed the Ten Commandments that week. The 6 year old said: “God wants us to sleep and rest.” That in itself sounded like God to me, because what 6 year old would want to highlight rest?! The 9 year old said: “God says we are not money, He won’t spend us.”
A few days later in our prayer house as I was spending time with God I “stumbled” across the following scripture:
2 Chron 36:21: The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said. (NLT)
In the Message Translation it explains it even more:
21 This is exactly the message of GOD that Jeremiah had preached: the desolate land put to an extended sabbath rest, a seventy-year Sabbath rest making up for all the unkept Sabbaths.
Learning about Rest
Somehow for the first time I understood that God is really serious about rest! The reason for the Israelites going into exile was because of their disobedience and idolatry. But the reason for the exile being 70 years was because they did not take their Sabbath year every seven years. Somehow God took back the 70 Sabbath years that they didn’t keep in 540 years, but in a different way. If they were not planning to take the rest that He wanted to give them, He would at least give it back to the earth, to the physical ground.
God now really had my attention, and I started to read more about it. I had had the misconception that the seventh day of rest was part of the Law and that we are not under it anymore. What I somehow didn’t realize, was that the very reason for the day of rest was a declaration to God’s people that they were no longer slaves who had to work seven days a week — the Sabbath was actually a gift, a sign of their freedom. God Himself modeled it to us, by resting on the seventh day. They also were gifted the opportunity of a Sabbath year, which was an extension of the Sabbath, to allow the land as well as the people, to rest.
Rest, Release, Expand
The beginning of 2018 I felt God giving me the words: Rest, Release and Expand, only to discover that the word for Sabbath year is Shmita, which means “to release.” Studying it more, I also discovered that quite often the Israelites didn’t take their Sabbath year, because they either didn’t have the faith that God would provide for them, or they were too greedy to let go of that year’s income and profit.
Reflecting on my own life, I then realized I wasn’t weekly taking a day of rest because I didn’t have the faith that I would get done with my work. I was also running two small businesses that generated income for others, and I felt responsible for their livelihood. In the process I also developed bad habits of working morning, noon and night. I truly felt convicted, but more so, I sensed the invitation from the Lord to start to learn how to rest.
I started to implement a day of rest — where I would take the whole Friday off. In the past even when I tried to take the day off, I would still go to work when we had visitors, or quickly work on important accounting, or this, or that. I had to learn to really say no — no to people, no to my own drive to get work done. I discovered that rest doesn’t just happen. Rest isn’t something passive. It is actually is a step of faith — saying “I choose to not work now,” believing that God will help me to solve the problems the following day. The beauty is that God often fixes the problem before I get to do it, or I discover that I wasn’t even needed in that situation.
By mid 2018 I started to sense that my time in that specific nation had come to an end, and that I had a year to prepare to hand over (release) before leaving and taking a Sabbatical. The interesting thing to me was that God told me, “Rest, Release and Expand.” He didn’t tell me “Release, Rest and Expand” or “Expand, Release and Rest.” I first had to get to a rhythm of weekly rest before I was really able to hear that He was leading me to let go of it all.
I started my Sabbatical mid 2019 and had the privilege of having almost a year of rest. I had a Sabbatical Coach, who guided me through the three different phases of this year. To rest, rediscover and also re-align for the future. It was one of the most precious seasons of my life! After my sabbatical, as part of my transition process I got involved at one All Nations hub earlier this year. As I gradually got busier with work, I would make sure to put my phone off for a few hours a day, go for walks and make extra time to enjoy God’s Presence, which I had gotten to love and appreciate in a new and deeper way the past year.
Old patterns and fresh grace
If I wrote this blog post two months ago, I would have been able to tell you that I am doing great at keeping my rhythms of rest. The irony of it all is that over the past few weeks I have been getting busier by the day — filling my days again, morning, noon and night with work — and not even taking a day of rest each week. I can see how I am falling back into old habits. I used to live with the mindset: “I just need to get through the next few weeks / through this project and then I will rest.” And as soon as those were done, the next goals and projects would already be on the table. I catch myself thinking these same old thoughts again. And once again, I am busy with things that are super life giving — but we know what they say about too much of a good thing…
In the process I have noticed I have this growing discontentment. Then it dawned on me in the week — I ultimately miss Him, I miss His Presence, I miss those “unoccupied” times, where I am more likely to long for Him. I also know when I get so occupied with work I neglect the people closest to me. God is reminding me though, as He has been doing so often the past year, that I get to try again, I get to respond to His invitation again. That these “failures” are not fatal, but rather another opportunity to experience His Grace and to let Him lead me as the Good Shepherd to His green pastures, where His ‘REST’ isn’t history, but a daily reality!
To reflect on:
1. What are some reasons that you might not be resting regularly?
2. In what way is God inviting you to rest and release?
3. What is one practical thing that you want to do different this week, in regards to rest?
About the author:
Linda is a member of All Nations Cape Town. She lived in the Middle East for over a decade and continues to work alongside other cross cultural workers and local leaders to see the Kingdom of God expand amongst Neglected People Groups.