I have been contemplating sabbath rest. Resting has been something of which I write often and it has been at the forefront of my existence for the last couple of years.
Though we all are aware of the sabbath commandment to rest on the seventh day, my contemplation has been focused on the year of rest that the Lord commanded the Israelites:
“The Lord then spoke
to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them,
‘When you come into the land which I am going to give you, then the land shall
have a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field,
and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, but during the seventh year the land
shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall
not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. You shall not reap your harvest’s aftergrowth,
and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a
sabbatical year” {Lev.
25:1-5 NASB}.
As I read this passage, I thought about how hard this must have
been for them. It is important to remember that this community was an agricultural
one, their livelihood was tied to the land. If they could not grow their crops,
they had nothing. But the Lord is always merciful, and He foresees their trouble
and before they can even raise their lips to complain He answers them:
“You shall
therefore follow My statutes and keep My judgments so as to carry them
out, so that you may live securely on the land. Then the land will yield its produce, so that
you can eat your fill and live securely on it. But if you say, ‘What are we going to eat in
the seventh year if we do not sow nor gather in our produce?’ then I will so order My blessing for you
in the sixth year that it will bring forth the produce for three years. When you are sowing the eighth year, you can
still eat old things from the produce, eating the old until the
ninth year when its produce comes in” {Lev.
25:18-22 NASB}.
The Lord is always faithful. If they will only but trust in Him, even during the sabbath, He will not leave them or forsake them.
I have been meditating on this for some time now because I
seem to be in a sabbath of my own. Those
of you who know me know that I garden every year as I am working toward being
able to grow as much of my own food as possible. I also love flowers and grow
them as well. I am one of those who sow her seeds early so that as soon as winter
has made its last stand (and a very cold spring where I am) and the threat of frost
has vanished,
I plant them in the garden as soon as possible (also we have a short growing
season).
Well, this year was the first year that I can remember that I have not planted any seeds and did not have a garden. While this may seem irrelevant to some it is a huge disappointment for me. Though I don’t rely on my little farm for my livelihood, Piper’s Farm brings me much joy. I love planting seeds and watching the miracle that it produces in the fruit for it is part of the creation that I love. It was not to be this year. In April, I had major foot surgery so I knew I would not be able to attend to the seeds or get them planted, and I did not want to burden the husband as he already had to pick up the slack for me in so many other areas, so I didn’t plant any. While it was something I needed to lay down, it was still very hard for me. I walk the yard often looking at the place where my garden is usually growing to see only weeds {which are screaming at me as well}.
There are seasons where we will feel as though we
have been emptied of everything and we have no choice but to trust the Lord in
the season of sabbath. I cannot fully convey the frustration in my life right
now as I struggle with everything being stripped away. I have to rest in order
to recover, I have no choice. I don’t have the strength to do much.
I imagine this is how the Israelites may have felt
in that sabbath year. But God is so faithful to us. Just as He was with them
and blessed them in the sixth year so that the sabbath year would not be a
strain for them, He is with us. He is with me. When we are faithful to be
in His Word and walk with Him daily, we are strengthened to walk through these
times. The Lord promised us that we will not be alone, He has sent the Comforter
to keep us:
I will ask the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or
know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in
you {Jn.
14: 16-17 NASB}.
He will not leave us, and He is faithful to walk through them with us. The Apostle Paul was told that God’s grace was sufficient for him when he cried out to God during one of his struggles {2 Cor. 12:9}, His grace is sufficient to help us do what we cannot do for ourselves.
During this time, I have had to completely
deconstruct who I am and what I am doing or should be doing for Him on this
earth and have had to rebuild from the foundation up. Though this is a hard
thing to walk through, He is faithful in the waiting—in this sabbath. He is
working towards my good when I rest in Him. I have no choice but to wait on Him
and then He works in me to form me into His image; to make me more Christlike, which
is always for my good:
“And we know that God causes all
things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who
are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so
that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He
also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom
He justified, He also glorified” {Rom.
8: 28-30 NASB}.
So, I will wait. I will take this sabbath rest and
trust and wait on Him to bring forth His purpose in my life, because He has
given me enough spiritual riches in abundance to endure this sabbath, as
frustrating as it can be at times, and to live under His sovereign hand.
“If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my struggle I will wait until my relief comes” {Job.
14:14 NASB}.
Rest in God this beautiful Sabbath weekend.....