The Sabbath Paradox: Living Within the Tension of God’s Design
For the backstory on why I started practicing Sabbath, read this post.
So much of following the Lord feels like a paradox, doesn’t it? The first will be last and the last will be first (Matthew 20:16). The least will be the greatest (Luke 9:48). Whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it (Matthew 16:25). It feels backwards. And yet, the more we learn about God’s Kingdom, the more this tension makes sense.
Sabbath, I’ve found, is the same way.
On Sabbath, we stop working so that on Monday, we can give our best at work.
When we devote ourselves to working hard and with excellence, it’s easy to exist in a state of constant striving. Sunday rolls around, but still the work is not done. And so the anxious thoughts take captive our minds: I just need to complete one more task, send one more email, do one more load of laundry. Sabbath, however, frees us from this burden.
Without negating the importance of hard work, Sabbath teaches that our work must pause. Why? So that we may know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are not our own providers. We depend on God–for the breath in our lungs, the food on our tables, and the ability to show up to work the next day. Sabbath reminds us to surrender and receive the gift of God’s provision.
On Sabbath, we receive soul-deep nourishment from the Lord so that we have something to give back to Him.
As Christians, we have the beautiful privilege of participating with God in His work to redeem the brokenness of our world. We get to befriend those who are lonely, feed those who are hungry, and care for those who are sick. And even as we meet people’s physical and emotional needs, we get to point them to the One who fulfills their deepest spiritual need: Jesus. And yet, it’s easy to approach our participation in God’s work in the wrong way. We might be tempted to “quantify” the success of our work with numbers: How many people are getting saved, getting healed, growing in their faith? Suddenly, our “ministry” looks a lot like our “to-do” list as we anxiously strive to accomplish more and more and more. This is a great way to burn ourselves out for the sake of the Kingdom…
The reality is, ministry is never a numbers game. Sabbath solidifies this truth in our hearts. When we pause on Sundays, we communicate that we do in fact trust God with the results of our obedience. And, ironically, as we receive God’s gift of soul-nourishing rest, He restores the strength we need to continue the work He calls us to do.
To go deeper on the topic of participating in God’s work of restoration in the world, check out my verse-by-verse Bible study on the book of Nehemiah.
On Sabbath, we set aside the deadlines, and somehow, our productivity increases.
“Setting aside the deadlines” sounds lazy or unwise. Yet in practice, this is far from the case! In my experience, practicing Sabbath helps me look ahead into the week with the knowledge that work must be done before Sunday. So I set aside time for meal planning and chores and time with friends so that when Sunday comes, I’m ready to pause. Far from making me lazy, I feel more motivated to be productive on the “work days,” knowing that I will fully enjoy the “rest day” that’s just around the corner.
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The Sabbath paradox: We stop to work. We receive to serve. We pause to do.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised by the “tension” of living within God’s design. His ways are rarely what we expect, but they are always good.