“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8 ESV)
Wait is a four letter word for us, isn’t it? Honestly, most of us are probably more comfortable with crude language than we are are with waiting. I’m thinking that waiting well will be a big challenge for many people in the days to come. We are used to on demand, instant download, drive-through and express refill. But fifteen days of wait? In the safety and relative isolation of our homes?
“…then the land shall rest and enjoy it’s Sabbaths.. the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it.” (Leviticus 26:34-36 ESV)
Friends, the nation has been skipping Sabbath for decades now. When I was a little girl, the outside world still stopped on Sundays. Gas stations closed. Grocery stores shut their doors. Restaurants didn’t serve. The whole country took the day off once a week to catch their collective breath. But we’ve bypassed all that self-imposed rest that in the name of profit margin. We run faster and harder in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Amazing, now, to see how fast our accrued affluence can be whittled away by something as small and unseen as a virus.
It’s unsurprising that our nation has been called to a season of forced rest after so many decades of blowing off Sabbath. The question is, what will we do with this rest?
I’m lingering in the Word. I’m intentionally filling my world with worship. I’m going on long walks with my Savior and photographing evidence of a Texas spring unfurling. I’m reaching out to students, friends and family, offering encouragement and prayers. I’m sending handwritten notes in the mail and composing emails and picking up the phone to call far away people. I’m having family dinner and I’m breaking out the board games. I’m enjoying the antics of our two cats.
Rest is hard at first because we are unaccostumed to it’s unhurried pace. But rest is good. It’s a gift. It’s a reward. I’ve been living a more restful life for a full year now; the kind of life where Sabbath is at the center and everything else arranges around it. It can be done and it can be so healthful for the soul.
We wait well when we wait with God and for God. When we take these times of waiting and mark the hours by anticipating His presence. When we listen for Him to speak in our slowed-down soul. When we look for Him to move amidst our down-shifted world.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; ” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)
Lord, we don’t like being told what to do and we aren’t crazy about a presidential mandate to stay home, but we recognize You are sovereign and You are calling us to rest. Help us slow and give weight to the things that are important. Help us see You in our day to day stories. Give us renewed Kingdom perspective in the days to come. Amen.