Hurry: The Condition And The Cure

I started learning about rest because it was clear to me that I had no idea how to rest well, based on my own experience with anxiety. I knew something needed to change based on how I spent my time. What little margin I had was being eaten up by social media and my own bad choices.

I knew that all through the Old Testament, since the very beginning, God himself has emphasized the idea of rest, so we know that God is trustworthy. We don’t have to run ourselves into the ground striving to provide for ourselves. We see in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that God created literally everything in 6 days and on the 7th day he rested.

This was supposed to be the original God-given culture before sin entered the picture. Looking at the history of Jewish people and how they honor the Sabbath nods to what humanity’s relationship with the world should be: a balance of fulfilling work and restorative rest.

For Jewish people, the Sabbath was sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday and the whole rest of the week would lead up to it.

It was a practice before it was officially commanded; we see it as a command in Exodus 20:8-10 it says

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Not just in the Old Testament, but even throughout the life of Jesus we see him ministering to large groups of people as well as withdrawing to rest and spend time with the Father.

This shows so much of the character of God. Before Jesus stepped into ministry God himself speaks identity over Jesus. God loves Jesus and is pleased with Him BEFORE he did anything ‘important.’ Everything comes from that place.

I love when Jesus was baptized in Matthew 3:16-17

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

And now because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we are now invited to bring the culture of heaven to earth. Sabbath is a weekly reminder of the grace of God.

Sabbath IS Eden.

To stop, rest, delight, and worship God with your friends and family is what Sabbath stands for.

I’m of the mind that even if it isn't required for modern Christians, it’s still a good idea. As I look around in our culture I see more and more evidence that people don’t know how to rest, especially in America, where I’m from.

I grew up in this culture of rush and unrest, so the example of Jesus doesn’t come naturally to me. I had to start learning to practice the Sabbath and work from a place of rest instead of “earning” rest.

Like anything, you can be too legalistic about the Sabbath. Jesus had a lot to say about this too. One example is in Mark 2:27  where he confronts the religious teachers of the day about how they treat Sabbath,

“And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Since I started practicing the Sabbath, I’ve noticed myself acting more like Jesus.

I’m more patient and emotionally healthy when I have that time once a week to fully recenter and be grateful for what I have.

I’d recommend it to everyone!

*Most of what I learned about Sabbath came from when I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.
It’s going to have a lot more detail and expand on what I told you here. I would definitely recommend you check it out if you’re wanting to start learning about rest in a biblical way.