Life is a journey and the best part about it is learning on the way.
Something feels off. How did we become like this? Become like what? So busy that we have little or no time for ourselves, much less for anyone else, especially our loved ones? Even in the name of God, we seem to be losing our families, the very people we love, because we are so busy, busy working for good causes within our churches and communities, working to put food on our tables, working to acquire wealth.
Work consumes our lives and in response we have become busy, stressed out beings. Oh, I, myself, am not exempt from this chosen path. For I know all too well what has happened when I have fallen off the bandwagon (and I’m not talking about weight loss either, though the metaphor would be suitable here in explaining my inharmonious living). But this awareness of “something being very off” became more acute as I slowed down my life to be with God.
I purposely took retreats to consume the presence of God. But these retreats were only afforded twice a year. By the time I sought refuge, I was already worn out, beaten and battered by the issues of life. On my most recent retreat, God spoke to me about His Sabbath. I am learning His voice more and more each day, yet it usually takes two or three times before I respond to Him. So the scripture Isaiah 58: 13-14 was given to me in a book I perused in the retreat book store upon arrival. I memorized the location of the scripture and placed the book back. That night before retiring, I read the scripture.
The next day, I befriended one of the retreatants. We exchanged a few words, and she gave me the scripture from Isaiah. She was only able to utter Isaiah and I finished off the citation. She looked at me surprised and said, “How did you know?” I simply replied, “Oh, He told me when I got here.”
I knew God was speaking, but the very thought of disciplining myself to honor a day set out as His Sabbath scared me. You have to understand, I am more comfortable operating in the Type A lane 7 days a week until it becomes absolutely necessary to shift into the Type B lane. But, by the time this shift is made, I am overwhelmed and suffering a head-on collision with a brick wall; the life is seeping from me and I am no good to anyone, not even myself. I am only able to stop when my mind, body and spirit can go no further.
I had come to realize that being made in my Father’s image required me to be refueled a lot more often than my morning breakfast devotions, and although I reflected on Him throughout the day, I needed to be saturated regularly. My time with Him was important but so were my relationships with my family and friends. Though it is quite today’s bravado to be one’s own individual-to be independent or to be self sufficient, our Creator designed us for relationships. We do not operate in a vacuum; we share this space on Earth with all that is living.
Since honoring the Sabbath, I feel so revitalized after a morning of worship at church, a relaxed day with my husband and fun visits to see family and friends. It is a time to be spiritually reconnected on all levels, and the result is a sense of a fulfillment. A British poet John Donne (1572-1631) says it best, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, part of the main.”
We are in relationship with both God and human kind. We have to make time for both. A relationship can only be nourished when we stop to acknowledge its importance, to celebrate its beauty, and to honor its existence. If God paused on the seventh day to do these things, can we do any less?
