Any of you who actually reads our e-newsletters or blogs of late will know that we are focusing on what Sabbath means for us, attempting to move through life in a rhythm that allows for optimum ministry, family and personal health.
I said, “actually reads” because I’m as guilty as the next human of thinking I’m too busy to do more than simply skim in-box matter, cull websites for just the tidbit needed, and look at the pictures in a blog before deciding if I really need to read all the words of the post. It was a sobering day when I realized that if I’m not reading my fellow missionary’s entire newsletter/blog, why do I believe they read ALL of my carefully crafted words? Even the exhortation by Christ Himself, “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” hasn’t changed my ways.
And so, I truly don’t expect you to continue reading past this point, but I hope you do . . .
Busy is a disease. No one is immune. Juxtaposed to entropy that takes over without well-directed energy, busyness will jam us cock-eyed into its chaotic mold unless we intentionally direct our activity.
I just finished reading another book on the theme of Sabbath and out-of-control busyness. Appropriately titled, Addicted to Busy, by Brady Boyd, it challenged me to pragmatically review my habits and default tendencies, and identify how to change patterns that lead to unhealthy physical, emotional and spiritual results.
Essentially, I have come to realize that I don’t know how to rest by taking a day off mostly because the term, “Day Off” has always troubled me—I don’t know what it means.
As a Mom, I truly can’t take a day off. As a wife, I am always looking for ways to love, respect and serve Geoff. As a Christian desiring to follow and honor God I also have my eyes perpetually open to where I can serve and act in honor of Him. In those three respects I can’t take a day off. They are who I am.
A “day off” actually disturbs me. However, I am coming to realize that we must alter our daily and weekly rhythms to incorporate Sabbath for the express purpose of resting in God, rather than endlessly trumpeting our own agenda.
An ironic side note here as I say I am seeking rhythm: Rhythm was always a spelling test stumper for me until I had a teacher that taught me the nemonic Run Hard You Thick Headed Monster. Interesting that our crazy, out-of-control rhythms lead us to become Thick-Headed Monsters (‘It’s just who I am, so don’t expect me to change”) who are bent on running hard and fast.
One of my very favorite people I worked alongside for many years was fond of responding to admonishment to slow down with, “I can sleep when I die.” I learned a lot of good things from my co-worker, but that wasn’t one of the wisdom nuggets. Unfortunately, I also adopted that stance and elevated its position in my mind to more than just a default, it became a drive.
Currently, as a ministry, New Hope Uganda, approaching the age of 30, is actively seeking health and we recently engaged in a “Change Management” Seminar. Whether change is incorporated on an individual or corporate level, the process can run close to daunting. But, daunting is NOT synonymous to impossible.
In the midst of all this talk of change, rest, sabbath and rhythm I also realize I have spent the greater part of 50 years developing a well-fed guilt complex regarding, “not doing enough,” and even more so living under the fear of being perceived by others as not doing enough.
Producing is everything. At age two if I wanted to move I had to coordinate movements to get from point A to point B. When I succeeded there was great applause. As I moved through my early childhood, the teen years, university and my first jobs, success was marked by how many “A’s” I received: “Applause,” “Approval,” “Acceptance.” I liked and worked for all of them. More than 50 years later, I’m still looking for “A’s”.
So, most likely one of my main problems with sabbath, rest & rhythm is that I honestly believe if I rest, if I take time out for sabbath, if I change my well-oiled rhythms, I’ll be less productive and therefore in jeopardy of receiving something less than an “A”.
What a LIE.
“The sabbath was made for man,” said Jesus in Mark 2:27. In other words, if I don’t sabbath I will die sooner and with less quality of life.
Sabbath is an asset, not a liability.
I am made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and He himself demonstrated the need for rest, “For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his,” Hebrews 4:10, and Genesis 2:2-3, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
Despite these truths, I felt that familiar 50-year-old pang of guilt and fear last week when I read the following in my kids’ science curriculum. “Sir Isaac Newton was once on recess for a year and a half while waiting for a bout of the bubonic plague to be eliminated from his school. During this time he wrote the founding observations for the mathematics of integral calculus. What do you do in your time off?”
“Well, for crying out loud,” I thought, “I certainly haven’t changed the world with my brilliant postulations or newfound discoveries in mathematics, science or any other subject. Way to bring a downer, dude. Thanks a lot!”
I assume the author didn’t intend to bring guilt, but to inspire. However, the subtle undercurrent of negative pressure rises.
No doubt, living in a rhythm of sabbath is going to require change. I can’t continue in the default of pressure and performance for “A’s”.
Change. A basic truth. We undergo change all of our lives. Growth requires change. It is fundamental to life. If I don’t change, I die.
Change — This morning I came across another gem in my kids’ school books. American history. Benedict Arnold. What a guy—unforgettable. I didn’t get any farther than the first page where I read about the predictions made by others when he was young regarding Arnold’s future. Some said he would be a great success, others disagreed and said he’d turn out badly. He lived both predictions. In 1777, Washington called him, “The bravest of the brave.” And he was. But only three years later he was described as “the veriest villain villain of centuries past.”
And here’s the clincher that stopped me, “The trouble was not that Benedict Arnold changed, but that since his teenage years he changed so little.”
Ouch.
Lord, help me to change my defaults, habits, and patterns which block my ability to rest in you. Keep me from the desire to push my own agenda in pursuit of “A’s”.
Let me not change simply for change sake, but for effective and ongoing change which produces desired growth in the right direction.
I don’t know yet what a healthy rhythm of sabbath looks like for myself and my family, but I am willing to continue pursuing it every week and let God change us for the better.
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| Tonight, Saturday night, our usual night we attempt sabbath, was enjoyed as a youth worship night and fun event. It was a great time for all the kids and many adults, and we were blessed to be there. Sometimes we have to adjust the rhythm a bit--it is a learning process and we refuse to be rigid with it. However, we are committed to implementing sabbath at some point in each and every week. |
