How have you been surviving this pandemic? For those who are working from home, have you been feeling the burnout that many are facing because of a lack of feedback and routine? Parents, do you feel like there is a neverending to-do list, filled with work tasks, home tasks, and especially your kids’ assignments? If you’re like me, you’ve hit these moments many times, and in turn, have faced difficulty finding rest.
Something we may have noticed now that our homes have become our offices (or at least some blend of the two) is that the difficulty of finding time to rest in a rejuvenating and restorative way may have become even more difficult. The irony of our homes becoming a place that we may struggle to rest is a reality.
We wake up, go from our bed to our office (which is now just several steps away), we stay stuck on our screens because of emails, Zoom meetings, spreadsheets, and even productivity apps on our phones. We may work a little bit past the time when we usually call it a day, and we may go on our phones, even more, to “rest.” Then the day ends, and we rinse and repeat.
Sabbath Rest
Thankfully, the practice of Sabbath rest will always remain relevant to our lives, and through Christ, we can enter into this rest, whether we are in the middle of a pandemic or not.
I work in a college ministry, and the past couple of years, I have asked these three questions to college students: 1. What is your understanding of Biblical rest? 2. How do you rest? 3. How does God affect your understanding of rest?
The answers these questions usually go something like this: Silence, followed by statements about watching Netflix, sleeping, working out, or doing devotionals, and then followed again by silence.
How would you answer these questions?
The Sabbath and the Creator
We read in the Word that God rested on the seventh day of Creation (Gen. 2:3) and ceased from the work He was doing. I think this sheds some light on how we can approach the delicate rhythm of work and rest.
During a trip to Israel, one of the pastors at my church learned from a Jewish scholar about how the American view of the Sabbath is incomplete. The scholar explained that the Western view thinks about “resting” as ceasing from our work. But Sabbath rest to the Jewish people went beyond simply ceasing from work. Sabbath rest is the act of ceasing from one’s work and then intentionally looking to God during that time of ceasing. It is taking our eyes off the work that we have created and turning to look to the Creator.
Then what can you do during this season of life to find true Sabbath rest on Sundays? Quite honestly, Sundays now no longer feel different than any other day of the week. If the church you attend is like mine, you’re probably “going to church” in the comforts of your home — whether that’s in your bedroom, living room, kitchen, or office.
But those are the same rooms where we study or have Zoom meetings. Maybe we’re even worshipping on the same screens where we look at spreadsheets or type memos. So finding Sabbath rest on Sundays may not be as clear cut as they used to be.
If the definition of Sabbath rest that we’re running with here is “ceasing from our work and intentionally looking to God,” what can we do to find this restorative rest on Sundays? Here are some things that I’ve found to be helpful for me:
Sabbath and Sundays
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Don’t do work on Sundays. Since we are tethered to our devices more than ever, the temptation to continue working can easily bleed into our Sundays. I’ve found that muting email and messaging applications that I use for work has been a great way to cut the cord between my phone and me.
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Go (mostly) analog on Sundays. What used to be a day where we go to church and deviate from everyday life, Sundays now can feel eerily similar to every other day. So having at least one day dedicated to removing our eyes and hands from our tech devices can do wonders.
After watching your church service online on Sundays, carve out a couple of hours (or maybe even the whole day) where you’re not on your phone, laptop, or tablet. You can even uninstall those pesky social media apps from your phone on Sundays.
Maybe the only screen time you’ll have is a FaceTime with family or a Zoom call with friends. Just make it intentional.
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Reflect on the past week with thanksgiving. A challenging practice of prayer that I came across this past year was specifically praying prayers of thanksgiving. That means not asking the Lord for anything but focusing on thanking the Lord for who He is, for what He’s done in your life this past week, and giving Him glory.
Try doing this for at least 10 minutes, and you’ll find that it’s somewhat challenging to not jump into prayers of supplication. But when you can find yourself purposefully thanking the Lord for all He has done in your life, you’ll find His faithfulness is present in the nooks and crannies of your life that you may not usually check.
As you are isolated in your homes, whether that be by yourself, with your roommates, your husband/wife, or a house full of kids, what is at least one rhythm you can incorporate in your life to cease from doing and look to the Lord and rest in your identity in Him? Remember that this is a far cry from any form of escapism. You are not just ceasing and running away from your work, but you are running to something, or in this case to Someone.
My prayer for all of us is that we would seek to rest in God’s presence every day of our lives, not just Sundays. But if you need a place to start, making Sundays a day of practicing the spiritual discipline of entering into Sabbath rest is a great place to start. Then ask God to help you to have that rest overflow into the other days of the week as you find ways to pray, praise, and listen to the Word, even in this midst of our busyness.
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 27:4. It speaks of a posture that I hope to have each day, for I know that when I am in the Lord’s presence, I am at my most comforted, peaceful, and rested state.
“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)