It's Sunday! Here I am enjoying my Sabbath time at my mom's house. This week, there were several things I heard about the Sabbath that I wanted to share. But, time for writing didn't seem to be a part of my week. I knew I'd have a chance today so I didn't stress about it.
I learned that the Exodus from Egypt is a parallel to the creation story. The plagues, the walking through the Red Sea, and finally collecting manna for six days, leaving the seventh day for rest and trusting that what was collected on the sixth day would be sufficient all are ways Exodus is reminiscent of Genesis and Eden. Thinking about manna on the seventh day brought me to another realization. While I already talked about the planning that goes into practicing the Sabbath, I think another part of the Sabbath has to be trust. We have to trust that while we are practicing Sabbath time, all else will be taken care of. That time that we take to focus on God, we don't have to worry about the rest of our obligations. I'm not good at this. In fact, it may be my biggest downfall. I'm always busy and trying to do things, help people, make sure things are ok. So, it's really important for me to work on trusting that during this time the world will not fall apart. I also need to let God take control instead of thinking I'm in control. I could see myself being one who collected manna on the seventh day... maybe someone had forgotten and will need some... maybe I'll be extra hungry... maybe something else will happen. But, nope! That's not the way it worked then and it's not the way the Sabbath is supposed to work now. So, when I am practicing my Sabbath time, I need to make sure I'm not distracted by things I'm worrying about or trying to control. I just need to trust that God is in control and He is taking care of me.
Another thing I thought about while hearing the stories of Exodus was that one of the most important things that should have been happening was gratitude. I'm often amazed that only a month after leaving a life of slavery, people were complaining and whining. Do I do this? Do I quickly forget the blessings I experience day after day? When I used to write this blog daily and focused on where I saw God each day, I experienced God so much more fully because I was looking for Him. Then, I was living a life filled with gratitude for those blessings. While some of that has stayed a part of my life, I want to experience it more fully again. So, I think part of the Sabbath has to be focused on gratitude. We need to spend time thanking and praising God for the blessings He has provided. Even more importantly, we need to realize the blessings when they might be harder to see. When the people were wandering in the wilderness, hungry and tired, they weren't seeing the blessing of freedom from Egypt. How often is that the case for us today? I'm not sure how this will be a part of my Sabbath. Maybe I will blog about it, maybe I will spend some time in prayer, or maybe I will spend some time telling someone I am grateful for the ways God worked through them to impact my life. Somehow, it needs to be a significant part of my Sabbath time each week.
Lastly, this week's podcast also talked about the Exodus and the tabernacle. The Tabernacle was built to be a place for God's presence. In the creation story, Eden was a place where God was present. Then, Moses went up on the mountain and on the seventh day, God appeared and talked to Him. I see a pattern here. I feel like the Sabbath has to be a place where we can feel God's presence, where we are at peace, and where we can take some time to not be distracted by other things. Of course, most people spend some of their Sabbath time at church worshipping. But, where else is God's presence? Where else do I feel like I'm in a place conducive to connecting to God, experiencing God, or just feeling peace? Right now, most of my Sabbath time is spent either at my house or at my mom's house. Both of those places give me that sense of calm. I also spend time walking my dog and I think that works, too. Being in nature is one of the best ways I experience God. When I see the artistry He has created in nature, I'm convinced in His presence. As I look at the things I want to focus on when practicing the Sabbath, I need to be more intentional about where I will be during that time and make sure that I'm in a place where I can experience the presence and Peace of God.
Blessings,
Jennifer
Since I'm spending the day at my mom's, I'll start with talking about Sabbath places.
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