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February 25 - August 5, 2019
is a narrowing; a limit, a boundary, a tight passageway that requires shedding all the excess baggage hindering us from entering fully into his rest.2 We attempt to set ourselves free from limits, but God uses them for our good. “I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad” (Psalm 119:96 ESV).
Narrow seasons, such as parenting young children and serving people on Sunday, limit time for rest. The thought of choosing Sabbath can make us feel even more hemmed in and off-balance. In the seasons of life beholden by limitations, rest seems an impossibility unless we approach time with faith and trust—faith
“in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
He is continually in the process of preparing us for the future he envisions.
use as a guideline when you are tempted to break your resolve to rest. First, ask yourself this question: Is what I’m considering easy and does it make me feel light? If the answer is no, then you know you are being bullied.
Ann Voskamp teaches, “The parent must always self-parent first, self-preach before child-teach, because who can bring peace unless they’ve held their own peace? Christ incarnated in the parent is the only hope of incarnating Christ in the child.”
“My heart is learning that the important things are completed without constant work and effort. I am learning to rest in the Lord’s timing and bask in his presence. And his reward is an inner calm and security that people are beginning to notice.”
Almost two years later, weary of striving as I wait, I learn that peace comes not when God gives what I seek, but when I believe he will come because he loves me. God waited for thousands of years before he sent his only Son.
Stop doing. Stop striving. Stop. You’re in the middle place. You’re on the plateau. Here is the table before you. This is the wilderness. You have arrived somewhere. God has brought you to somewhere. He said it would be about trust, and you see, it is. You’re in this somewhere space, this wilderness space. Now go and have a look around.
He stirs up your nest. He disappoints your hopes. He brings down your confidence. He makes you fear and tremble, as all your strength fails, and you feel utterly weary and helpless. And all the while He is spreading His strong wings for
you to rest your weakness on, and offering His everlasting Creator-strength to work in you. And all He asks is that you sink down in your weariness and wait on Him; and allow Him in His Jehovah-strength to carry you as you ride upon the wings of His Omnipotence.5
In desperation, his mother sends him to a digital-detox boot camp.6 And don’t we all need to detox our soul, mind, and body from busyness? Sabbath is a weekly boot camp for rescuing a tormented life.
