rest & rhythms

Hammock and rest go together like oreos and milk.This morning I woke up with a sabbath highway expanding in front of me. Both of my younger boys are in Mississippi with my mama. I could have slept in. Instead my eyes flew open at 6:20. I attempted to sleep longer to no avail. 

So Skip, our dog, and I were on the patio early in the cool of the morning with birds singing us awake and good strong coffee to ensure the job.

As I began the Sabbath thus, I thought about the rhythms of life and why rest is so necessary. I’ve been reading Ruth Haley Barton’s Sacred Rhythms. She describes a way to live and settle into a rhythm of work and rest.

Barton writes:

There is something deeply spiritual about honoring the limitations of our existence as human beings - physical bodies in a world of time and space. A peace descends upon our lives when we accept what is real rather than always pushing beyond our limits. Something about being gracious and accepting and gentle with ourselves at least once a week enables us to be more gracious and accepting and gentle with others. 

I realize that sometimes I ignore my human limitations. I work past the point of exhaustion thinking that the world will somehow cave if I don’t keep on going. Rest eludes me. Often illness forces the rest. 

As I am maturing, this happens less and less. Part of the humbling work God has done in my heart is repentance in this very area... a shrinking of myself and an enlarging of who He is. I am learning to acknowledge my need for rest and to allow it. When rested, I am less likely to grab at things of this world to fill me. I am more likely to let the Spirit instruct me on the next steps. 

I want to give from a place a fullness and when I am empty,  let the Spirit fill me to give again. 

Today, on this Sabbath, will you rest?