This week, I’ve been reading a book called, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Sabbath, by Mark Buchanan. The book was originally given to me after my mother passed away, but back then I found the book a bit heavy to read. Then this week, my insomnia came back full force and I began feeling restless about life, getting fit, and my personal well-being.
The book sat on my desk, starring at me every time I came to the computer to work, beckoning me to read it.
“I just can’t right now”, I thought. “It requires too much thinking, too much depth, and I just don’t have the energy to allow you—God—to change my thinking through the words on those pages.”
Then something happened, I caved! I picked up the book and began reading it. And that’s when I realized that it was the Holy Spirit who had been prompting me.
God wanted me to remember Him through the midst of my pain. He wanted me to stop rushing through life; always in a hurry to get things done, always living for tomorrow, always feeling guilty for not achieving everything on my to do list, and always making excuses for NOT doing the things necessary for a healthier, happier me.
Yes, I still miss my mother. Yes it’s easier to push those feelings aside and get down to the business of life, but that’s not what God wants of me. And it’s not what God wants of you.
In The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Sabbath, Mark tells us that going to church on Sundays isn’t enough. We need to spend time with God on a daily, continuous basis.
“Under God’s economy, nothing really changes until our minds do….First our minds are renewed, and then we are transformed, and then everything is different, even if it stays the same,” asserts Mark.
“Sanctifying ‘some time’ adds richness to all time…to spend time with [God] is to emerge, not sullen (sluggish, gloomy) and peevish (cranky or annoyed), but elated (joyful) and refreshed (full of energy). You come away filled, not depleted.”
And isn’t that what we all want from our lives? To start each day with a renewed sense of purpose—with renewed energy? To be able to handle whatever life throws our way and still find contentment, joy, and happiness in the midst of it all?
If I want peace from my grief or financial woes or personal hardships or whatever life throws my way, then I need to stop running away from God and start running to God. And that starts by making God a priority in my days, by keeping Sabbath.
Keeping Sabbath, according to Mark, is really about the changing of one’s attitude (disposition) when circumstances can’t or won’t be changed: “a Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval”.
Won’t you join me in making every day a Sabbath day?
If you’re ready to make every day a Sabbath day, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Sabbath today.
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About The Author:
Alyice Edrich creates textured, hand painted vases using recycled glass jars and mixed media. To check out her art, visit her blog http://www.alyiceedrich.com or online art shop http://alyiceedrich.net/etsy.htm.
