“‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.'” Exodus 20:8-11 (NIV)
How do you recharge and refocus? In the Fourth Commandment, God reveals the guardrails that prevent burnout in life and in ministry. Here a few essentials to help you embrace the Sabbath God has designed for you.
Essential #1: Assess your pace. One day a safari guide instructed his group, “We are going to rest today so our souls can catch up with our bodies.” Can you relate? It is possible to have so many irons in the fire that you put the fire out. Busyness becomes a tool in the hand of the enemy to distract you from God’s best and to deplete your energy meant for accomplishing God’s will. Is your current pace sustainable?
Essential #2: Build life-giving relationships and enjoy life-giving activities. Seek out relationships that add value to your life and boast your energy. Build relationships with people who bring out the best in you. Carve out time for life-giving activities. What activities replenish you? Refresh you? Renew you? Exercise consistently, eat healthy, and sleep amply.
Essential #3: Disconnect in order to reconnect with God. What do you need to disconnect from? What is your plan for creating space in your schedule to allow God to put you back together emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually? Learn to practice solitude. God invites you into His rest more fully so that you can know Him more deeply in light of eternity.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell