What is Sabbath for? // Restoration

If my private world is in order it will be because I have chosen to press Sabbath peace into the rush and routine of daily life in order to find the rest God prescribed for Himself and all of humanity.

- Gordon MacDonald

I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to get into the rhythm of the merry-go-round of life and operate on autopilot. I am just focussed on making it through the work week, then making it though the things that need to be done around the house on the weekends, I fall in a heap on the couch half way through Sunday afternoon and sit there like a blob, desperately trying to “relax” before Monday morning rolls around, and then when it does…I wake up tired and apathetic and just as worn out as I was on Friday afternoon after a week of work.

I have discovered over the years that if I don’t make a conscious decision to do anything differently, I continue on this cycle until I crash and burn.

Our society, and dare I say many of our churches, are focussed on “doing” and “achieving”. Unless you’re crazy busy, you’re not doing it right. We need to remember that our value does not come from what we achieve or what we acquire. Our value comes from who we are, from our position as adopted sons and daughters of God. I believe that we really need to guard against workaholism, because ultimately being a workaholic is potentially damaging both to your personal health and to your family relationships. The problem is that it is really hard to go against this culture, but I’m beginning to see that the benefits of being intentional about observing the Sabbath far outweigh the blank stares and outright sneers of those who do not see the need.

I believe that the Sabbath needs to be made up of a balanced combination of both leisure time and biblical/godly rest.

Leisure time and activities are like the lollies of life. You only need a little bit in order to remain healthy. Leisure time and doing fun things is great, and they give you a quick little pickup from time to time in terms of bringing serenity to your inner world…but it is really not enough to sustain you in the long run. It’s a quick hit of energy, like a chocolate bar, but like that chocolate bar, there’s a low after. Leisure time, while it’s nice to have, and definitely required; doesn’t really provide the long term, sustaining nourishment that our inner world requires.

We need godly rest as well as leisure time. God was the first one to have rested and you can read about that in Genesis at the end of the creation account, and again in Exodus 31:17 where Moses talks about God resting and being refreshed. The Israelites were commanded to keep the Sabbath day holy as part of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20) which were essentially a set of guidelines to teach them how to live in community again. They had just been set free from a life of slavery where their every waking moment was dictated by someone else — that was all they knew — and they needed some instruction. God was teaching them the best way to live; He wasn’t giving them a set of rules for the sake of it. It’s for that reason I believe that having a day set aside to focus is a legitimate biblical principle for us to observe as modern followers of Jesus. We have been set free from the slavery of sin and need to learn to live in community with other believers. For me, the parallel is obvious.

This rest lets us sort through all of the thousands of pieces of information that bombard us each week and weed out the things that aren’t aligned with the truths and principles that we live by. And the thing about humans is that if we are not intentional about doing this refocussing activity we are prone to drift away from God. Godly rest allows us to be tough and resilient if we have laser focus on our life’s purpose.

Our soul-deep tiredness can only be overcome by catching a fresh vision of the purpose that God has for our lives. If you have the space in your life where you can do that on a daily basis…I am deeply jealous! But for me, I need to intentionally stop the routines of my daily life and give special attention to this refocussing and reconnecting with God’s vision for my life. Taking a Sabbath day is how I do that.

So what does this look like on the ground for me? Before I go on I want to say that Sabbath activities will be different for everyone. For example, many church workers take a week day as their Sabbath, and for parents of very young children it may be an hour once a week.

As I mentioned in the first post, I’m in the development phase for this spiritual discipline, but at the moment my Sabbath day consists of:

• worship — prayer, bible reading, singing and playing music, drawing, meditation etc.
• connecting with other believers— whether that be at a physical church or an on line one or through another form of community gathering.
• weekly review— closing all the open loops, refocussing on purpose and direction (see GTD for more information on this one).
• journalling — examining what has happened in the week just gone and looking for God’s hand, pausing and asking myself questions about what my life means, working through any issues that need to be dealt with.
• time with my family — Sabbath was instigated at the time of creation just as the first family was initiated at the time of creation…I’d like to think they are related…and even if they’re not, my family is my primary ministry and part of my purpose in life.
• physical exercise — I need to renovate my temple, I see this as an act of worship too.
• relaxation — being an introvert I need a good amount of alone time to restore balance.

For this one day of the week I put aside my regular routine (I have a highly regimented weekly routine in order to get everything done as a full-time worker and mother) and go with the flow of what God has for me. This disruption to my regular programming is like hitting the reset button, and even though it may look like there’s a lot on that list, they are all things that are designed to soothe my soul and refocus me for the week ahead. I’ll talk more about the preparation aspect of Sabbath in the next installment.

Sabbath is no longer a guilt-laden legal requirement. Nor is choosing to observe the Sabbath an excuse to live however you choose during the other six days…all of life is “christian activity” there can be no separation between spiritual and secular. Sabbath is a gift that God is offering. A gift of refreshing and restoration. He personally demonstrated this better way to do life, as any good leader does if He intends his people to follow. If it’s good enough for God, it’s good enough for me. Where He leads I will follow.

What are your thoughts. Do you observe a Sabbath day? How do you intentionally refocus on what God wants for you?

Michelle

Fit Friday // Consistency and Sustainability

This week I have continued to work on being consistent in my exercise routine, and managed to exercise six out of the past seven days.

Depending on what you read, the so called experts suggest that it takes anywhere between two and three weeks to cement a new habit into your routine. so I’m either a half or a third of the way there

What really annoys me though is that it only takes one or two days where I’m too busy or too tired to exercise and I feel like I’m starting back from the beginning again. It’s not fair.

In terms of sustainability…I’m finding that side of things more difficult. For me, it’s easier for me to work harder longer on the bike, but it’s more convenient for me to fit in a short sharp running workout at the end of the day most of the time. But I don’t like running much, and from past experience I am more likely to injure myself running. Will I able to keep that up? Perhaps when the weather starts to warm up I’ll be able to ride more…..

On the bright side, the scales are starting to move in the right direction!

How did you go this week? How do you ensure consistency in your fitness routine?

Michelle

Too busy to “do” Sabbath? // Part 2 // What is the Sabbath for?

Sabbath seems to be one of those things that gets left off the sermon list. I don’t remember having heard a sermon in the last 30 years about it…but then again that could be my memory giving way…

When I was growing up Sundays meant that we were not allowed to go to work, nor were we allowed to play team sports. Usually we had a couple of doses of church and maybe entertained friends and spent the day watching telly and relaxing.

Over the years the intellectual idea of Sabbath that I developed and carried around with me involved a mythical day where I sat around and either did absolutely nothing, or did something fun with my family. I say “mythical” because it never actually happened. Being as over-committed as I was, Sundays were more often than not busier and more stressful than my regular work days. Sabbath was one of those things that I considered optional and therefore shelved it because I was busy doing stuff for God…which of course, made it alright.

I am learning a better way. I am learning that God put the Sabbath there and commanded us to keep it for a reason. Yeah, I know…d’uh! It never ceases to amaze me how slow I am to “get” this stuff!

From the study that I have been doing about what the Sabbath is for, I have come to the following two principles that I am trying to implement in my life.

1. The Sabbath was designed for restoration (biblical rest and leisure…and yes…they are different)

God rested at the end of his creative effort..not because he needed to, but so that he could appreciate what had gone before.

2. The Sabbath was designed for preparation.

The very first Sabbath in history was also Adam’s first full day on earth. He spent the day chilling with God and getting his instructions for the week ahead…he was getting focused on his God-given life purpose.

I am still learning how to make these principles work in practise, but I am noticing that these concepts fit nicely with the weekly review that I do as a part of my GTD implementation (for more info about GTD – Getting Things Done…click here), and it fits with The tenets of the Purpose Driven Life.

My next two posts will be about how I’m attempting to implement the two principles and going from a frenetic stressed life that focuses on being busy to a more peaceful life that is intentional about fulfilling my life’s purposes.

What do you do on the Sabbath? Do you think that observing the Sabbath is relevant in today’s world?

Michelle

Too busy to “do” Sabbath? // Part 1 // Beware! It’s a disease!

How long has it been since you really took a regular break each week?

If you’re anything like me…I was far too busy and important to take a break for years…I even took “work” ( it was usually church stuff or writing I wanted to get done) away with me on holidays, and Sundays were more often than not busier than regular work days.

Right up until a couple of months ago my work ethic was my crowing glory and my sense of whether or not I was a good person/Christian/worker was wrapped up in how busy I was, how productive I was, and let’s be honest here shall we…how stressed I was feeling. I was getting some kind of sick self-righteous satisfaction from being continually under pressure and feeling as though I was always running from one thing to the next. I felt needed and affirmed when I was doing everything for everybody. Which, looking back at it now, is totally pathetic.

It has taken some not-so-gentle prompting from a friend and some stress-induced medical problems to make me wake up to myself. Life was never intended to be this crazy, and that in fact, it is counter-productive in the long run to be so frantic all the time. It is not sustainable, and the only ones that suffer are you and your family, who often get steamrolled or completely forgotten in your misguided quest to be all things to all people. And from a broader perspective…if you go until you crash and burn, it will take a long time for you to recover and come back to the point where you can function normally again.

We were designed to work hard. That is not in dispute here. I think it is absolutely necessary that we be productive and effective in everything we do. But in order to do that we MUST take time out, we must find the point of balance where we can maintain our pace for the long haul.

Over the course of the next week or so I’ll be posting about what I’ve been learning about Sabbath, sabbatical, rest, focus, leisure and balance.

Do you take time to rest regularly? Or do you go full-tilt until you’re worn out?

Michelle

Fit Friday // Good week!

I’m proud of myself this week! On Sunday I did the 5km Canada Day fun run here in Canberra. I didn’t run the whole way … and I was so sore that I could barely walk  for two days afterwards because I hadn’t trained at all beforehand…but I did better than I thought I would. I haven’t really run for any length of time since I broke my foot at the end of last year. I followed it up with a run on Wednesday night, as well as my usual lunchtime 5km walks. So the exercise has been regular this week. I think I need to up the intensity a bit though. I haven’t really lost any weight yet.

I managed to eat a lot more fresh, raw veges this week … and I have noticed that my skin is clearer. Bonus!

The thing I am happiest with is that my body and my brain chemistry are starting to tell me that I need to exercise. My body is starting to recognise the benefits of exercise for stress management and for maintaining an even outlook on life.

I’m doing well taking baby steps! How did you go this week?

Michelle

There’s a track winding back to an old fashioned shack

This post is part of my adventure series…click here to make sure you catch the whole series.

This week I finished reading The Shack by William Paul Young, and I have to say that I think this book is one of the most moving books I have read in a long time. The book is fiction, but it contains within it a parable that vividly paints a picture of what it means to live in relationship with God. For me it was so deeply convicting and profound that I had to put the book down and pray…all the while crying because I have so misunderstood the nature of God.

I had to ask myself… do I have a truly biblical vision of what God is like? Or do I have a vision of God that is more a reflection of Roman, Greek and whatever other cultures have added a bit of spin in the last 2000 years? It’s important for me to find answers to those questions because it will be those answers that govern how I relate to God, and how I live as his child.

Aside from the insights into the unity and function of the Trinity, there was one other part of the book that completely freaked me out. God took the main character (Mack) for a walk through the forest. God’s purpose for this trek was to bring healing and restoration to Mack’s life through confession and forgiveness. As God led Mack through the forest, he pointed out little red crescent markers along the way. The markers were on trees and rocks, some were easy to see, some were hidden, but there and God knew what he was looking for. These markers were the guideposts that would ultimately solve one of the book’s mysteries.

Those of you who have been following my adventure will have read about my own set of little red markers in the bush (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read about it HERE). When I read the passage, the hair on the back of my neck and on my arms stood up, and my heart started to beat so hard it was like I had been doing a workout.

My initial reaction was to be freaked out. This was way out of the ordinary. The imagery was identical, the spiritual journey was so similar. The coincidence was too much for me to take in. I emailed a good friend and relayed the story. My friend suggested that it was perhaps God’s way of confirming that he is working in my life.

I know that there really are no coincidences when it comes to God, and that there doesn’t have to be a burning bush for him to speak to me…but this just blew my mind.

An added element of confirmation for me was this: I have had this book sitting on my desk since Christmas. Mum gave it to me and said that it was good, but I hadn’t really felt like reading it. I don’t normally read a lot of fiction books, and I had heard conflicting reviews about it. It wasn’t calling to me. But then when I was packing to go away on my retreat, I remembered the book and threw it in my bag. I read the first couple of chapters while I was away, but didn’t really get into it. By the time I got into the meat of the book (in this last week and a half) I was well and truly in exactly the right place to hear the message within. Another example of God’s amazing timing.

Have you read The Shack? What did you think? Did it challenge your thinking in anyway?

Michelle

Round and round and round we go // the labyrinth

This post is part of my adventure series…click here to make sure you catch the whole series.

Before I went away on my retreat weekend I asked for ideas about things I could take away with me to help with my spiritual boot camp. My good friend Ron suggested that I check out labyrinths and gave me a link to check out. I had heard of them before, but had never had any experience with them.

The particular labyrinth described on the website was set up in the year 2000 as part of the new-millennium celebrations in England. The organisers incorporated interactive and multimedia elements to lead the pilgrims through various stages of confession and focus. They used a recorded soundtrack with ambient music and narrative to lead them people through the stations in the labyrinth.

The website says this about them:

Labyrinths were a feature of many medieval cathedrals – one of the best remaining examples is found in Chartres Cathedral in northern France. Unlike a maze they have only one path – there are no dead ends. People walk the labyrinth slowly, as an aid to contemplative prayer and reflection, as a spiritual exercise, or as a form of pilgrimage.

The path has three stages – the ‘inward’ journey, the centre and the ‘outward’ journey. The theme of the ‘inward’ journey is letting go of things which hinder our wholeness and inner approach to God. The centre of the Labyrinth is a space of meditative prayer and peace. The theme of the ‘outward’ journey is relationship – with ourselves, with others and with the planet – seen in the light of our relationship with God.

I quickly discovered that I was able to download the soundtrack, and got it loaded onto my iPhone ready to go for the weekend. I intended to walk the paths around the resort and meditate. But then the rain set in, so rather than walk, I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes and relaxed for the hour-long meditation.

What followed was one of the most intensely powerful times of focus on God that I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. It has been a very long time since I was able to concentrate so completely on examining my relationship with God. Normally I struggle to last five minutes without my mind whizzing off on a dozen different tangents. The challenge to make changes in my life was clear and unmistakable…and hard work. The understanding that God loves me and has plans for my life was clear and unmistakable…and soothing for my soul.

I listened through the meditation again the next morning as I walked around the foreshore of Lake Jindabyne and savoured the snowflakes that I caught on my tongue. This time my experience with the Father was invigorating and energising. A gentle push to get me moving and ready to face the world again.

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? Do you meditate on Christ? How do you do it?

Michelle

Fit Friday // I’m good at starting things

I resurrected Fit Friday a couple of weeks ago and then promptly forgot about it << note to self…WRITE down your posting schedule!>>

Here’s the deal. I need to loose about 20kgs. I want to lose it before I turn 40, so that gives me about 18 months. More importantly I need to get fit. I am coming to learn that life is to be lived as a whole…my physical health impacts my spiritual health, my emotional health and my relational health. I can’t push it off to one side and ignore it any longer. But I have a problem.

You see, I am a good starter. I know that I can very easily stick to a diet or an exercise regime for maybe six or eight weeks max. Then I fail and don’t get back into the routine again. What I really need to do is to build these healthy habits into my life so that they are sustainable in the long run. I’m not sure how to do that.

So far I have started by adding exercise every day for a minimum of 30 minutes (preferrably longer)…I’m thinking I need to raise the intensity for a couple of those to really burn some of this post-baby fat off.

I’m also working at introducing healthy eating habits, but that is harder, and I find weekends especially difficult.

Do any of you have the same problem of being a great starter but not able to sustain the effort? Are any of you lifelong exercisers and healthy people? Can you help me find the way forward?

Michelle

God wraps his arms around you when you least expect it

This post is part of my adventure series…click here to make sure you catch the whole series.

I have started writing this post three times so far this week! Maybe today will be the day it gets written

When I went away for my solitary retreat the other weekend I had an idea in my head about how I thought it might go and what I wanted to cover. But God had other ideas.

During the drive down to Jindabyne on Saturday morning I was feeling very stressed and agitated. My chest was tight. My head hurt. My mind was racing a million miles a minute and by the time I was two thirds there I was beginning to wonder exactly how productive the weekend was going to be if this was the state I was in.

When I checked into the chalet, I was still feeling more than a little cranky and I had pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to be able to get any thinking or writing done while I was so wound up. I figured I’d try to relax for the remainder of the day and get into things on Sunday morning. So I unpacked my gear and stacked the fridge with supplies and headed out for a walk. I didn’t even take my iPod, my head was too busy to even listen to music.

The resort has a network of sealed roads weaving through the grounds. Everything is beautifully signposted and it’s easy to see where you’re going and how long it’s going to take to get there. These roads were busy with walking couples and families and cars speeding by. These roads offered easy walking. But I didn’t want to be around people and feel like I had to smile and play nice. Lucky for me the resort also has a spiderweb of barely visible bush tracks that weave through the grounds. These are the tracks I decided to explore. They were difficult to navigate and in the early stages they were so hard to follow that I had to stop and think hard about which way to go. The tracks wandered through alpine fields and through stands of snow gums and through scrubby bushes by little creeks. Gorgeous scenery…but I  had no idea how long it was going to take me, I didn’t know if I was going to get messy, and to be honest, I didn’t care…I was out there to clear my head…if it took half an hour, GREAT…if it took two hours…GREAT..I didn’t care. And there was no way of knowing one way or the other anyway. I just knew I needed to walk.

As I walked I started to notice that even though I thought there wasn’t any way of knowing where I was going, there were markers along the way that were providing guidance. Some of them were little arrows on stakes in the ground that were easy to see. Some of them were the same little arrows that were hidden in clumps of grass. Some were wooden arrows hanging in trees that sort of wobbled as the wind blew, but still pointed generally in the right direction, and some of them were like the one in the photo…a big red arrow painted on the rock and completely unmistakable.

As I walked I realised that these little bush trails and the markers were an allegory for the adventure that I found myself on. I’m off the beaten trail, there are very few people on the same path, and I have no idea how long it will take me to get where I’m going. As I progress on my adventure there are (and will continue to be) markers along my path that are easy to see….there will be markers that are hidden in the weeds along the path that are only visible if you know what you are looking for, there are the signs that point the way, but are a bit wobbly, and finally there are the directions that are so firmly rooted in the Rock that they are unmistakable.

I would never have seen these markers had I stayed on the easy roads. I had to step away from the easy and the mainstream to follow what God has for me in the next little while. Both roads lead to the same endpoint, but only one path provides challenge and reliance on God-given direction.

At the point in my walk where I connected the dots and saw God’s confirmation of my adventure, my mind started to race even more. I was excited that God would meet me in my moment of chaos! My mind was racing in a whole new way, but as I walked I felt compelled to just stop. “Be still and know that I am God” was the only thing that occupied my thoughts.

I stood still. I quieted my mind. And I heard something that I was completely oblivious to before. I heard the sound of the river that was rushing over rocks beside me.  I know that sounds cheesy. And I hate cheesy. But the sense that God’s love was rushing over me and washing away the things that occupied my mind was overwhelming. It was a physical sensation of release and relaxation. I felt a warmth and a comfort that told me that I was completely on the right path. I felt as though I was in a warm embrace that said. I love you. You’re where I want you to be.

By the time I got back to the chalet I felt as though I had been on holiday for a week. I was blown away that God had chosen to meet me in my most chaotic moment. It was powerful and wonderful and affirming. My plans for my weekend were turned upside down in the most wonderful way. I’m right where I need to be right now.

Are you where God wants you to be?

Michelle

Worship with your eyes open when walking!

This post is part of my adventure series…click here to make sure you catch the whole series. Click on the photo to see more photos from my weekend away.

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you who were praying for me this past weekend.

My weekend was good. It was very relaxing but at the same time very challenging. I have a lot to work on! Most notably I learned that you can’t close your eyes when you worship while you’re walking LOL

Here’s a brain dump of what I came away with:

• I’m in the mess I’m in because of the decisions I’ve made…take responsibility for them and then take responsibility for recovering
• Don’t rush the restoration, “Be still and know that I am God”, it will be a gradual process…it won’t happen overnight. Rest and enjoy the adventure.
• Take a more conscious and intentional approach to a holistic life of faith, watch for subtle separation of spiritual and other stuff…It shouldn’t be separated…ever.
• Dream big
• Work at eliminating distractions

I also want to tell you about what I discovered about signposts and seeking direction…but that’s material for another post…or two.

Please continue to pray as I work through the rest of the Mad Church Disease book, and as I put my plans into action to make this stuff happen, and to heal.

Michelle