Posted on

Sabbath Rest – Is This Still Relevant Today?

It’s so hard to find rest in the midst of a world which never sleeps.  In the context of our modern lives is a Sabbath rest still relevant or possible?

I work in a global organization and so live out the fact there is always someone up somewhere in the world, working. If you were so inclined, you could keep working all the time and never ever get rest. Would you be a super productive person that way? Probably not – I believe that your efficiency would reduce over time as your body and mind succumb to fatigue. You’d eventually burn out and not be able to do any work at all for a period of time… perhaps even indefinitely. I’ve seen this happen to others, and it’s not pretty.

God knows we need rest and designed our bodies that way. They signal to us when we are overdoing it, using tools like tiredness, sleepiness and physical pain. If we don’t listen, then we fail to operate in the way that we are designed and must brace ourselves for a malfunction.  It might be physical – resulting in physical illness – or mental, resulting in burnout, depression, or even a nervous breakdown.

God modeled the pattern of rest for us in Genesis 2, where he rested on the 7th day.  He also enshrined rest in the 10 commandments, directing his people to work  for 6 days, but rest on the 7th.  Now, I believe that we who follow Christ are no longer under the law, but under grace.  I do not believe in the statutory observance of a Sabbath day, but I do believe that God knows we need rest, showed us a pattern for rest and expects us to take rest on a regularly scheduled basis.  As Jesus famously said, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  It’s for our own good that we get at least one day of rest a week.

To my brothers and sisters who think that day of rest is on Sunday and yet you fill it up with lots of church work, I respectfully submit that  you’re missing the point.  You need rest, at least one day a week!  You’re designed that way! If you work 6 days a week in a secular industry and then spend most of your Sunday working as well, then when are you going to get the rest?  If you are committed to doing church work on Sunday (and this is in itself a noble and desirable thing), then should you not ensure that you get rest on Saturday or another day, if your work is flexible enough to accommodate this?  If you’re actually a full time minister of the Gospel in such a way that Sunday is one of your main work days, then should you not also ensure that you are getting a day of rest on another day?  To do otherwise is to rob yourself of long term health and effectiveness.

In my industry and in my personal experience, I’ve found Saturday to be the most likely day of rest and am increasingly making efforts to treat it as such – to labor the other 6 days, but not on the 7th.  I’m not there yet, but I’m better than I used to be.

I encourage you to join me in this quest.  Reclaim a day of rest, and allow your body to recharge itself in the way God designed.

Of course there is a deeper rest into which we enter by virtue of believing in Christ, his death and his resurrection for our salvation.  There is also a final rest into which we aspire to enter, in eternity.  If you’re reading these words but have not yet taken those first steps, then consider this:  the one day of rest will help your body, for the years allotted to you on earth, but you are missing out on a deeper spiritual rest that will be relevant for all eternity. (Heb. 4:1-3).

May God give us the wisdom to rest, and the grace to enter into His rest.

Posted on

Expect to Succeed, But Don’t Fear Failure

I love to succeed. I mean, I REALLY love to succeed. However, life had taught me some brutal lessons – despite your best efforts, you are unlikely to do well at everything you touch. How do we reconcile this reality of life against the promises in the Bible?  How do we deal with failure?

“The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭27:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/psa.27.1.niv

“The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭28:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/deu.28.13.niv

“no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/isa.54.17.niv

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/rom.8.28.niv

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/psa.1.1-3.niv

As ever, Scriptures must be read completely and in context. You cannot pick one segment of one verse and doggedly build your life’s theology around it. That is a quick path to disappointment, heresy and even falling away. God loves for us to succeed. But even more than that, God loves US. “Success” – as we understand it – is not always the right or best outcome for us. An example would be where “success” would lead to pride, which would lead to more sin, and ultimately to a fall. Another is where success would reinforce a belief or path that would ultimatley lead us to less than the best God has for us.

We are not to chase or expect failure. However, we should not fear it. Failure has no power over the soul who sincerely trusts that God is working all things together for his or her good.

Have you ever tried to rescue an insect from your bathroom and set it free? Have you watched that insect struggle, fly or crawl away from you in an attempt … to be free? You see, that insect doesn’t know what you’re trying to do. It’s beyond its understanding. You can see the big picture and understand the consequences if it stays in your bathroom. Sooner or later, it’s going to get squished. Out of your compassion for life, you struggle to capture it, or gently lead it out of the danger it had no idea it’s in. If that insect could pray, it might ask for deliverance from you. It might ask for a successful escape from your clutches. In this circumstance, its failure to escape you would be a good thing. While the insight might bemoan its capture and temporarily mourn its fate, it would eventually be transported to greater freedom as a direct result of that apparent failed escape attempt.

We are God’s creatures, well loved and very intelligent. However, the entire scope of our understanding pales in comparison to God’s, so scripture makes very clear. Therefore, all we need to do is trust and obey Him. The results may not always be what we expect, but there’s no need to fear. The Father sees, the Father knows and the Father is in control.

Nicky Gumbel,  Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton (England) and pioneer of the Alpha Course, recently said that he had never met a strong person who’d had an easy life. This is probably because strength of character and conviction are forged in the fires of adversity. The process is tough, but the fruit is beautiful.

Let us not seek failure, but let us not fear it. Our disappointments may be signposts pointing us towards a goal and destiny greater than we originally envisioned for ourselves.

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/php.4.11.niv

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.12.nlt

Posted on

Turn Your Worries Into Prayers

Philippians 4:4-9 is one of my favorite portions of Scripture and I often turn to it when worries try to dominate my thought life.  When reading the Bible, I love to read various translations simultaneously, in order to give myself the best chance of getting the full meaning of the original script. It would be better if I could understand Hebrew or Greek, but that’s a whole other level.

Enjoy with me the various translations of Philippians 4:4-9 and let the truth sink in that in order to access the peace of God in all circumstances, there are steps to follow:

1. Always Praise God.

The power of praise is amazing.  It can shift your focus right off your problems to the One who can either solve them, or give you the strength you need to walk through them.  Praise God for who He is; the all-sufficient One.  Thank Him for what He’s done.  Remembering past interventions is a great way to build faith for the challenges ahead.  Thank Him for all He’s promised, knowing that the One who has promised is faithful to fulfill His word.

2. Instead of Worrying About Anything, Pray About Everything.

I know, it’s easier said than done, but it’s true. In the darkest periods of my life I’ve found the deepest solace in just hiding myself away and speaking to God in prayer – simply, candidly, talking to Him about my feelings, hopes, fears, worries and desires and letting him replace them with His inexplicable peace. Some of us are prone to worry because we think we can control the world and its outcomes if we just work a little harder at it. We can’t control everything though, and we need to cede control to the one who can. We need to stop worrying and start praying – about everything. We need to pray in faith, because a double-minded person will receive nothing from God. If we lack faith, we can pray about that too!

3. Meditate on Positive Things.

This isn’t just a self-help mantra or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, useful as both of those can be.  This is scriptural.  In fact I would argue that a lot of self help and CBT principles can be gleaned directly from Scripture.  Paul exhorts the Philippians to meditate on excellent and praise-worthy things – things pure, lovely and admirable.  Focusing on the negatives can really pull us down, but making a decision to think on the bright side of things – to focus on the good – can give us a real boost.  It’s Biblical to be a “glass half full” person!

Living in this way, we will increasingly recognise how God’s peace which we can’t explain will sink into our hearts and begin to govern our thoughts and actions.

Simple, but hard. I know.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Here are excerpts from my favorite translations of these verses:

“Do not be anxious about anything…” -v.6 (NIV)

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” (v. 6-7‬ ‭MSG‬)

“Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything” (v.6, CEVUS06)

“Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.” (v. 8‬ ‭CEVUS06‬‬)

“Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (v6, NLT)

Posted on

Life More Abundantly – An Awesome Promise

“I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). What an awesome promise this is. Being a Christian does not mean being sour, sad and deprived of every good thing that life has to offer. It does not mean that we can or should no longer enjoy life. Quite the contrary; the pursuit of Jesus is supposed to bring true fulfillment, true life – life more abundant than what we had before.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22). If we are lacking these them we are deficient in our journey. We are lacking the essentials of our walk. Perhaps sin has snuck in through the back – or front – door and robbed us of our joy and peace. Perhaps it’s a lack of faith that has taken our eyes off the Master and placed it on the billowing waves at our feet. It’s no wonder then, that we sink. (See Matthew 14:22-33).  If we can only learn to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, then we can learn to run this race, walk this walk, and do so with a hop, a skip and a jump.

I’m not too naive as to think that true devotion to Christ will not bring its share of suffering, because it will. Blessed are you when people persecute you and say all manner of evil against you for falsely for His sake. Rejoice because they did the same to the prophets before you! (Matthew 5:11-12)

And there you have the full truth; following after Christ does not eliminate problems from our lives, but faithfully following Him unlocks the ability to be joyful and at peace in the midst of whatever life may throw at us.

Worry about nothing. Pray about everything. Turn your worries into prayers, and then the peace of God which is greater than we can understand will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Philippians 4: 6-7)

Life more abundant – not based on how much is in the bank, or how well our relationships are going, or how healthy or comfortable we feel, but based on the faith that God is in control no matter what, and will work it all out for our good. The circumstances become less important, and trust in the One who holds it all together takes center stage.

Derek Tidball told the story of a young boy who trusted his father was good, despite everyone telling him his father was a Frankenstein who cut people up. He knew his father cut people open at work and but he also knew that his father was good. It was only after he grew up a bit more that he full understood that his father was a surgeon, and he cut people up to heal them.

I have always loved that story. We can’t understand everything God does or allows now, but we know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) This is the source of our joy, our strength and our peace. Our God is good, our God is in control and He’ll make it alright in the end, on this side of eternity or the next. (I Corinthians 13:12)

Rest, trust, and begin to live life more abundantly.