Placing Sabbath Moments in Your Day
The first time the Bible mentions a Sabbath, or seventh day rest, God is the one taking it. Now don’t misconstrue this to mean that God’s energy was depleted and that He needed some recovery time. No, our all-powerful Lord used his Sabbath rest to reflect on the accomplishments of his previous efforts (six days of creation) and to gain vision for what He would create next.
I believe that when God later ordained that we humans should rest on the Sabbath, He knew that not only would we would benefit from a physical and mental break, but that we could also use some time spent in reflection and re-creation (creative planning for the future). Many of us shortchange ourselves on multiple levels by not accepting God’s invitation to fully indulge in the Sabbath’s day rest—but that’s a subject for another day.
Today I want to share with you a variation of this restorative time that the Lord has been tutoring me in—Sabbath moments. Everyday life is filled with creation on our part. We “make” our beds, create order in our homes, earn a living, accomplish assorted projects, produce (hopefully) well-balanced meals, and build relationships. In the midst of my activity frenzy, I have been prompted to insert sporadic moments/minutes of time where I stop what I am doing to intentionally look back and look forward.
I have found that when I give myself the opportunity to enjoy what I have already accomplished, thank God for my day’s blessings, and look forward in a planning and “dreaming” sort of way, I gain great perspective on my day and how that day fits into God’s plan for my days. When I allow the busyness of my schedule to crowd out my Sabbath moments, I am easily overwhelmed, and I lose not only my focus, by my vision as well.
Would you join me in sprinkling a Sabbath moment or two into each day?