Real Rest

Today is my 38th birthday, which seems like a good day to publish this blog post. I've had time to ponder and write, and as the next 'big 0' creeps closer, it would be easy to start thinking about age, progress, apparent success or lack of... and perhaps compare myself with many who could be considered streets ahead. But instead, I'm sitting here with an awareness of something so beautiful that those things are pushed away.

I wonder whether you have ever sensed deep, all-consuming peace? This is far, far greater than simply the absence of icky feelings. It doesn't necessarily require inactivity, though busyness can easily crowd it out. It is not just quiet or stillness, yet it surpasses the sweetest, calmest silence that you could ever imagine. It's a place of real rest that is primarily spiritual, but encompasses and interacts with the emotional and physical. I find it so hard to describe, but I recently wrote a poem about it, that I think gets closer.

What a concept! Does it seem like a pipe dream? Have you been there but now it eludes you? Perhaps you want to argue that there's no time for rest, or that with all you're dealing with, peace is unrealistic. On the other hand, others might feel that life is terribly empty, leaving space that is far from peaceful. This deep, satisfying, soul-feeding rest is not something we could get if only able to rearrange life. Let's face it, dreadful angst isn't really dependent on circumstances, so why should we think peace is? Actually, I find that when I try to grasp for it, it vanishes like vapour. But when I would otherwise be in freefall, it's strong enough to hold me.

We weren't designed to hold everything together—we were made to depend upon the only One who can. So, whilst real rest is essentially a gift, there are ways to practise the kind of dependence that enables us to receive it. In my previous post, I touched on an important principle that contributes to this: taking a weekly 'day off.' It's part of the out-working of this foundational truth about how we are created. 

Amongst all the Old Testament laws that helped to distinguish God's people from the nations around them, there's quite a bit about 'sabbath.' Every seventh day was to be considered holy. To some readers, this might be immediately off-putting, conjuring up images of stuffy rituals and the absence of anything fun, but stay with me!

Holy essentially means 'other'—set apart, sacred, distinguished from the ordinary. Various items, days, and even people, were designated to be purposefully God-facing, not as objects of worship, but to help the whole community be intentionally turned towards God. It was part of the overall provision for messed up, easily forgetful people, to come close to the great and holy God. Many practices that honour God are actually very much for us.

The sabbath principle, then, is about positioning, posture, and focus, in relation to God. Various festivals included extra sabbaths, to mark special occasions and remind the people of God's provision. Sabbath days incorporated some additional worship practices, but their primary distinction was rest. This is about dependence. God's Old Testament people were given a weekly day in which to do no unnecessary work—no scrabbling to provide, earn, accumulate or succeed. A day to simply be; to be God's.

We are, obviously, not in the Old Testament. Now, we can look back to those covenant stipulations, some of which are beyond baffling, and see them through Jesus. (This is big stuff, I might try writing a God-story-summary post sometime.) In taking on human flesh, God wasn't saying, "Hey, none of all that matters anymore, let's just be pals." The death and resurrection of Jesus says this stuff really does matter; God knew that people can't hold it all to together, so gave Godself to and for us.

Sabbath is a gift, not a burden. Likewise, other spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, engaging with the Bible, fasting, meditating on (contemplating) God, and corporate worship, are good habits to cultivate because they teach us to be un-busy, and to meet Jesus there rather than drifting into self-indulgence. Real rest is not achieved through religious piety. However, nor is it passive, stumbled upon by accident. It's found in acknowledging my limitations and needs before God, and intentionally making time to experience what happens when I take my foot off the throttle—including by having fun! 

 

 

 

One evening a few weeks ago, I was feeling weary of things to work through, even though mostly great things. I'm clear about where I'm supposed to be and what God has led me to be engaged in. I am not depressed or over burdened, but I become tired. Sometimes I just want to settle into a place of ease.

Whilst thinking such thoughts, or praying such prayers (sometimes there's no clear distinction)—I walked across the hallway, and felt God's still, small voice. It's hard to describe, but it comes as an impression that carries a sense of clarity and safety, then forms into something just like a thought, but that I know is not my own. "Settle in Me. I am your place of rest." Wow, yeah... I needed to be reminded of that⬦

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