The Spiritual Rhythm of Sabbath Rest…
I began writing this at Calgary airport while waiting for my flight at the end of a busy and packed week. I met with our other district superintendents and Bill Taylor and Neil Bassingthwaite from Home Office at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta.
By the end of the week, I was tired. I was looking forward to getting home, seeing my family, and resting.
I grew up in a farming community and hardworking family where rest was sometimes considered a luxury, a weakness, or a sign of laziness. Our days had to be filled with business and productivity. At the end of a day, it was not uncommon for my dad to ask, “what have you got to show for this day?”. As a result I feel guilty when I take a rest. I ought to be doing something. I should be busy. I have to be productive!
I think many pastors struggle with taking rest. It may be because of our upbringing, culture, or because of the expectations we have to be available 24/7 for our churches. I even heard a pastor echo songwriter, Neil Young’s, words, “it is better to burnout than fade away.”
We mostly consider rest as a response to burnout or tiredness instead of to prevent it. This hardly ever ends well.
A survey done by the Barna group in March 2022, showed that pastors are struggling with burnout at unprecedented levels. It went on to say that, “the percentage of pastors who have considered quitting full-time ministry within the past year sits at 42%.” The stress, pressures, and struggles of pastoring through COVID only served to amplify these statistics.
The reality is pastors, church leaders, need rest. They lack a Sabbath rhythm. The word ‘rhythm’ suggests that rest is something intentional. Sabbath is something planned and written into one’s calendar and life journey. It has a purpose and role in our everyday life and provides a goal to work towards. It also suggests that rest is not a luxury or lacks productivity but is both necessary and important in order for us to function well and in a healthy manner.
Sabbath rest is so important to our lives that it is amongst the first commands that God gives His people. “Guard the Sabbath day by keeping it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you…” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
The Sabbath would not just happen. It was a day that had to be intentionally set apart from the other six and then guarded. We have to ‘guard’ it because busyness creeps in silently and quickly. It erodes our good intentions to rest and set apart time for worship and family and recharge ourselves.
Jesus went on to remind us that God knew our need for rest, and therefore, provided the Sabbath for just that. It was not made to be a legalistic burden to weigh us down but a day to meet our need for rest!
Can I encourage you to consider the rhythms of rest in your life? It may be non-existent or happen by accident when a quiet moment rolls around. Can I urge you to sit down with day planner and purposefully write days and moments of rest into your calendar? Do this in obedience to God’s Word. Do it because your family needs you energized and not tired. Do it because your church and work needs the best that you can give and because you cannot pour from an empty cup. Do it because God has wired you to need rest.
In closing let me share my rest and Sabbath rhythms with you:
•I take one day a week (normally Monday) to rest. It is a day to read my Bible (not for sermon prep but to feed my soul) and spend personal time with God. It is a day for family activities or even to read a book or watch a movie. I guard this day carefully.
•Every three months I take a Sabbath weekend. I don’t preach. I don’t do ministry-associated stuff. I visit a church where I can worship with my family. We get outside. We rest and have fun together.
•Once a year I take a four-day Sabbath. I go camping on my own with just my Bible. This is my very personal time with God. I treasure it. I base it on Jesus’ words from Mark 6:31 that convicted me many years ago, “Come away by yourselves to a wild and desolate place and rest a while.”
•Mixed in with this is my annual vacation. I take a couple of weeks to get away from work and with my family. It is time of rest and take a break from my daily routine. It is a treasured time and a time to build memories.
These rhythms don’t just fall into place. I have to be intentional about scheduling them in and then guarding these times. All sorts of busyness and issues under the guise of ‘the urgent’ threaten to creep in and erode them all the time but, because I neither want to burn out nor fade away, I protect and guard the rhythm of Sabbath that has become a part of my life.
