A Restful Embrace

Guys, I did something practically unheard of for me: I took a week-long break from writing my Fear Fighting series.

In the past, I’d periodically mention writing all the time—on holidays, vacations, basically every single day—because I was so desperate to be deep in His Word. But after a of couple weeks where the Lord worked insanely fast—miraculously healing from the chemical imbalances associated with anxiety, delivering me from the spiritual bondage that went along with it, giving me a drive to share prophetic artwork online so His message of repentance and redemption can be heard—He revealed to me that I wasn’t really resting like He intended (writing these volumes is not a piece of cake, after all).  

The book of Hebrews talks about this a lot (in chapters three and four, in case you’re curious), but essentially, God showed me that, just as He rests from work on the seventh and final day of Creation, we are supposed to rest with Him (Heb 4:9-10). Due to Christ’s “it is finished!” work of salvation on the cross, we are called to take a sabbath so we can be still and marvel at His finished works.

He wants us to join Him in celebrating and relaxing and receiving the abundant life that is “not of [our] works” but fully sufficient through His (Eph 2:9). And while being busy with jobs and chores and life stuff is good—since we are called to work hard for the glory of His Kingdom—sabbath rest is actually designed to come first.

Think about it: God creates mankind—us—on day six of the Creation story (Gen 1:26-2:2). Day seven is devoted to rest. Guys, the seventh day of Creation is our first day of it. Before He has Adam and Eve do any work, He has them simply be with Him. How beautiful is that?

Fully content with basking in their Maker’s Presence, Adam and Eve rest—letting Him fill them with His strength, wisdom, discernment, and love—so they can face the new week and work with their heads held high … not in pride over themselves … but in confidence of who He’s made them to be.

And the reason why they’re able to know who they are and Who He is stems from the fact that they’ve slowed down and prioritized their quiet, calm, sabbath time with Him. He’s revealed His Truths to them, and they’ve actually been devoid of distractions enough so they can hear His precious, still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13).

I wasn’t doing this. Was too distracted by writing for Him that I forgot to rest with Him.

The same thing happens in Jesus’ earthly life, where two sisters (Mary and Martha) react to HIs visit in extremely different ways (Luke 10:38-42). Martha gets busy with the cooking and cleaning and serving and is so annoyed at her sister, the lazy Mary who’s just sitting at His feet and listening to Him talk. But Jesus urges her to relax, settle down, and sit with Him and her sister too! He tells Martha that the chores can wait; soaking up His Presence cannot.

I’ve been a Martha all my life, but boy, is He teaching me how to be a Mary now.

There are so many new, amazing ideas He’s put before me about ways to serve His Kingdom and share His gospel message, but I have to rest and wait on His timing, not my own. I can’t do any of what He’s called me to if I’m not prioritizing time to slow down, cease striving, and rest in His loving arms.

It sounds so obvious, but I forgot that I can be ‘deep in His Word’ any time I look at Scripture, not just when I’m writing about it for books. This is why the Lord and I took a week off to stop—ponder and reflect and celebrate all His goodness.

It’s been lovely having a little stay-cation with my Savior, and if you, too, are so busy busy busy that you can’t simply rest and be, I’d urge you to give sabbath a try.

It doesn’t have to be on a Sunday or for a full twenty-four-hour day to be considered ‘correct,’ just seek the Lord and ask Him to show you how to feasibly set aside a chuck of sabbath into your weekly schedule (Matt 6:33). You can even do what I’ve done and write SABBATH on your calendar, in case you forget.

Make rest a priority. Make Him your Priority. Everything else can wait.