Finding a rhythm of rest {7 ways}

The kids recited, swaying their little bodies with the beat:

ONE, no gods before me!

TWO, no idols!

THREE, don’t take God’s name in vain!

FOUR, remember the Sabbath…

I smiled, thinking:

What exactly does it mean to remember the Sabbath?

A few quick thoughts:

• Originally the Sabbath was Saturday (the 7th day).
• Jesus rose on a Sunday (1st day of the week).
• The early New Testament church gathered on a Sundays, which was a work day. (Presumably they did this after work.)
• Traditionally in America we have observed Sunday as a sort of Christian-Sabbath, when businesses closed and attending church was the respectable thing to do.

And so we have this mix of Saturday and Sunday and worship and rest and strong opinions about businesses being open or closed. We think everyone should observe Sunday as a rest day … except for pastors and mothers (smile).

So what do we do? Thankfully, since Jesus doesn’t make a hard and fast rule, we don’t have to either. He said Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). The idea of resting one day a week is for our good! Paul makes it clear we’re not to judge (or let others judge us) with regards to Sabbath days (Col 2:16). But it is still one of the ten commandments, so we’re wise not to ignore it, yet also not to be legalistic about it. Jesus fulfilled the law and we enter in to His rest by faith. We’re wise to reflect this gospel-rest by physically observing rest.

We’re wise to live within a rhythm of rest. For us this means Sunday mornings are spent worshipping God and serving His people, and Sunday afternoons are purely restful, playful, relaxing. No electronics or projects or shopping. Books, naps, runs (Jeff thinks running is restful–go figure!), and lots of imagination. This means we carve out another night of the week for Family Night, a restful, playful, fun time to connect in intentional ways.

Again, this isn’t about rules. Usually, if we follow the 1st commandment, the 4th commandment will work itself out.

Here’s what I mean: Usually the reason we don’t rest is because something is tweaked with the first commandment. Something’s up there next to God. And whatever it is (pride, people-pleasing, ambition) it is driving us on and away from a peaceful rhythm of rest. It’s pushing us to a frantic pace and leaving us with a vague guilty feeling that we “should” be doing more. When our first aim and highest goal is ensuring that Jesus Christ is on the ONE and only throne of our life, then He can call the shots  and order our days. All of our days, not just the one where we rest.

Here are a few ideas to practice establishing a rhythm of rest for your family (Quotes from Richard Swenson’s book, Margin–excellent read!)

1. Turn off all electronic mediums, just for one day.
2. Practice Simplicity and Contentment:  Richard Swenson says, “With fewer possessions, we do not have as many things to take care of. With a simpler wardrobe, our choice of what to wear each morning becomes less time-consuming.  With a smaller estate, there will be less debt bondage to our work schedule.  Everything we own owns us.  We must maintain it, paint it, play with it, build space in our house to put it, and then work to pay it off. Perhaps if we had fewer things we might have more time… the amount of genuine leisure available in a society is generally in inverse proportion to the amount of labor-saving machinery it employs.” We don’t need more “time-saving” devices! 🙂
3. Be Unavailable. We must have margin and boundaries.  Create some.
4. Think Long-Term.  Consider the Tyrrany of the Urgent. It drains us of energy, time, and resources.  Think long term and plan your life thoughtfully, according to long term plans. Yes, chaos happens. But a clear long-term focus helps us make clearer, wiser decisions in the midst.
5. Get Less Done but do the Right Things.  “All activities need to be assessed as to their spiritual authenticity…we must have God-centered criteria with which to judge all activities … our modern view of time is to compress it and milk it for every nanosecond of productivity we can get.” I always remind myself, God will allot me time for all the activities which He has ordained for me to do.  Productivity is not the goal–fruitfulness is. Consider and perhaps cut back.
6. Be available.  Pastor Bruce Larson says, “It is possible that the most important things God has for me on any given day is not even on my agenda.”  Have I created enough of a margin, white space, in my life, that when Divine interruptions come I am able to embrace them as God’s scheduled work for me?
7. Give your kids what they really want: Your time. The best gift you can give your kids is time. Many families schedule their lives FULL of activities for the kids–classes, lessons, parties, trips, vacations, but what the kids really want is for parents to sit down, get out the Legos and just play. Or read. Or talk. Or have a tea-party. Kids just want our time, unhurried, with no agenda.  I really believe that kids in America are absolutely starving for unstructured time with their parents.  And yet it’s so hard, as parents, to lay aside the busyness and the “to dos” and sit with our kids in the grass and watch bugs. To play dress-up and enter-in to their world. Lord help me do more of that.

{Time to go play… Thanks for reading.}

*Originally shared July 8, 2013.