Hey lovelies!! I hope you are having a great day! Today, I wanted to talk about rest and Sabbath. Sabbath and rest are something that I did not realize the importance of it until this year. Life gets super busy and for me, one of the biggest responsibilities I have right now in my life is being a college student. Being a college student can get crazy at times with loads of assignments and other responsibilities of course. At times this year, I came to realize that I am not resting or taking proper breaks or even a Sabbath. There were many moments where I was overworking myself. ALSO – I am still 100% working on this area with the Lord.. it is a learning process. I want to share the importance of rest and taking a Sabbath as well as what they may look like. Sometimes we are just going to be in that season of busyness and it’s hard to find times to rest, which the Lord understands. However, we can still find any time in the day to spend time with our Heavenly Father.
With everything mentioned in this blog, please go back to the Lord in prayer about this and what His Word says because I am still a learning human being :)).
WHY TAKING A SABBATH IS IMPORTANT
First of all, I love to think about God our Creator. Even God Himself rested. He rested on the seventh day from His work of creation. Genesis 2:2-3 says, “On the seventh day God had completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from all His work of creation”. As image-bearers of God, we can rest knowing that our Heavenly Father rested. God created rest and it is a gift from Him. I learned that Sabbath is an act of resistance against hurry and busyness. Sabbath is important because it is us resting with the Father and allowing Him to fill us up. Also, God did create us to work and we see in His Word where God gave work to humans in Genesis 1:28, 2:5, & 2:15. God also created us to rest and in this way, we can be filled with His Holy Spirit, and do the work that He has called us to do while giving Him the glory.
WHAT DOES REST AND SABBATH LOOK LIKE
Rest could look like getting our daily rest like sleep, taking a nap, or just taking a break. I feel like rest could also be doing an activity that refreshes us- this could be just laying down, reading our Bible (hehe) or a book, or even just taking a walk in the park! I suggest spending time with the Lord first and then doing a refreshing activity. This can be a lot easier said than done – sometimes depending on what season of life you are in, it is hard to get rest like being a college student (like me right now haha). Sometimes it’s hard for us college students to get rest not only because we have heavy assignments and other responsibilities but because some of us do not manage our time well – then we end up doing homework late at night or through the night. It is so important to set boundaries and manage our time the best way we can so we can get the rest we need. For example, I do not stay up during the night to do my homework at college. This is my boundary so that I can get the rest my body needs. I end up realizing that I am able to get so much more accomplished when I wake up the next day and have rested. To rest, we can also set boundaries with our phone and/or social media – For example, I like to set time limits on my instagram for 35 minutes a day and take a day or two off social media in a week. Another boundary I have is not exceeding my screen time on my phone for more than 3-4 hours a day. Your boundaries don’t only have to be with your phone and social media. Set whatever boundaries you need to set to get the proper rest you need.
Taking a Sabbath is dedicating our time to the Lord. Taking a Sabbath is saying, “God, I trust you with this time”. We can trust God with our time because He is the Author of time! Rest in God’s Holy Presence and spend time with Him. Taking a Sabbath could look like picking a day in the week to do no work or school assignments. You could always start small and work your way, it is a process. It could be using our free time to spend time in prayer; we can even start our Sabbath by saying a prayer and giving thanks to God!
NOT AN EXCUSE TO BE LAZY
The last thing I wanted to touch on is not using rest or Sabbath as an excuse to just be lazy. There is a difference between truly resting and just being lazy and not wanting to do anything at all. Resting could be like taking a break after a long, productive day or taking a break in-between a time in our productive day. When we are lazy, how are supposed to do the things God has called us to do and do it for His glory? God has taught me that rest is supposed to refresh us and it should bear fruit. If our rest is not refreshing us, then we are not resting well. So, we must rest to be refreshed and not rest to be lazy and do absolutely nothing.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22 ♡
Okay, friends! Rest is a gift from God and work is also a gift from Him. I saw something online that God reminded me of today which is because of the accomplished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, we are free to rest everyday – we can rest in knowing that our salvation is in Christ Jesus alone. Once we give our lives to Jesus, our salvation is secure in Him. I pray that we continue to fix our eyes on Jesus. I love you all very much!
Let me know how can I be praying for you, because I would love to pray for you! ♡
Love Bea ♡
Spreading God's Love 
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