When we talk about the Sabbath, we're talking about setting aside a deliberate day of rest - a time when we sit back, stop our ordinary work, and are thankful. This is a time of trust, a time that reminds us that it is God who takes care of us and not we who take care of ourselves. It is a time to reflect not on what we have, but on what we have been given, which seems like close to the same thing, but there is a very fundamental difference. Our souls just do not thrive without this time of rest and trust and reflection.
Nor do we grow.
As I was writing yesterday's post about the Sabbath and ordinary work, what popped into my mind was the other concept I have of a "rest day" - the concept that comes from being a runner. (Or really, anyone who exercises.)
Anyone who exercises knows that you have to build rest into your regular routine. If you don't, you'll never get stronger.
That seems strange to those who do not exercise. To someone who spends most of their life on the couch, or someone who is just starting to exercise, it seems that if you lift a few weights today, then a few more tomorrow, then a few more the day after that, then you just get stronger over time by virtue of repeatedly using the muscle and repeatedly using it more. The same way with running. Novices and sideliners tend to think that if you run a mile today, a little more tomorrow, a little more the day after that, then well, by a month or so, you ought to be able to just run a marathon.
But it doesn't work that way.
Strength depends upon not the use of muscle, but the rebuilding of it. Exercise disrupts the muscle as it is, creating a series of micro-tears that then restore themselves thicker and stronger. But they only restore themselves if they get a sufficient period of time when they are not being used. Like stretching a rubber band, it doesn't get the tension out of it if you never let go; you have to give it some rest if you want it to go back to the way it was. Keep just stretching it, and it will snap.
As physical rest is to the body, giving it the time it needs to restore itself stronger, so is spiritual rest to the soul. Our faith grows on a Sabbath rest.
And the reason is much the same.
This life we live, it inflicts upon us a series of micro-tears. Of stresses. Of challenges. It chips away at who we are and breaks us in these tiny, almost imperceptible ways. Except that if we don't give ourselves times of rest, these things never heal. Instead of making us stronger, they make us weaker. If we don't get rest, these stressed and strained areas of our lives never restore themselves. They are not built in with the faith that makes them more durable. They do not become anything more than they ever were. And eventually, we snap.
We might have been using our faith every day, but if we do not give it the time to replenish and restore, it does not become stronger; it becomes weaker.
We need our rest.
Maybe that's why God gave us the Sabbath. Don't you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment