Photo credit: thegypsymama
Taking a break.
Saying no.
Letting myself lie perfectly still on my bed, staring at the ceiling and doing nothing productive.
Spending as much time in prayer as I should.
Being alone.
The list could go on and on but you probably get the point. These are all things I don’t do a great job of doing and I can see the toll it’s taking on me.
There is, within each of us, an inherent need for Sabbath that I believe has fallen by the wayside in the wake of all things “now.” The search for the most efficient, most updated, most powerful, most advanced etc. has led us as a society into a pit that I fear we may not be able to crawl out of. As I study the scriptures on this very topic, I begin to see how great the gap between the life the Lord has intended and what we feel we can do better.
I think this whole notion of a “simple” lifestyle is somewhat of a hot button right now in the Christian world, but I’m not certain that most of us are up for the challenge of really making it happen. We don’t want everyone to pass us by so we keep saying we want change and the spending our days exactly how we said we wouldn’t.
In the past few months I have really tried to focus on eliminating what I don’t need, and it has made me painfully aware of how poorly I actually succeed. I get rid of things only to gather more. I drop things in my schedule just to fill them in with more. I say I want a simple life because it sounds easy and peaceful, and what I have realized is that this is a major internal struggle for me. I feel lazy when I’m not going, going, going, and often times it is at the expense of the very people I want to protect from the madness.
What it all comes down to, and what I am focusing my thought-life on currently, is the idea of contentment.
When is it enough? When is it the point where we just accept that we don’t need bigger and better, and that we are satisfied with exactly what we have?
I have made it a practice in the past weeks to catch myself in the line of thinking that leads me into the rut of desiring more. I just saw a friend who has the coolest new electronic gadget and I can very easily convince myself that life would be “simpler” if I had it. I mean, seriously. It can do everything but park my car for me. I just know that if I shell out the (substantial) cash for it, life will really take a turn for the better, and I’ll realize that this was the thing that made it all easier.
I just need this one thing. And then I will be content.
I’m drowning in “one things” right now, with a house full of odds and ends I thought would bring me contentment, and instead are gathering dust. We moved into a new house recently, and as I have gone through box after box of useless junk I have really been convicted about the state of my heart.
Is Jesus everything to me?
Better yet, am I content with Him?
I want to tell you my answer is yes, and I long for it to be true, but as I type these words after a hard day I am struggling. Because truth be told I do the exact same thing with the Lord as I do when I’m looking for the latest thing. I tell Him that if this one thing could happen, I would be better. I would be happier. I would be a better spiritual daughter.
Have you?
Have you sat before Him and begged, tears streaming down your face because your heart longs so desperately for something? And have you convinced yourself that this is the one thing separating you from a life that makes more sense than the one you currently have?
Just this morning I walked in the bathroom and my five-year-old daughter Kate was singing to her reflection in the mirror. Apparently it was a song she had penned (unless there’s already a “Jesus is my ‘Dude”” song I haven’t heard on the radio yet), and even though I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to call Him a “Dude,” it tickled me that she had been sitting in there for some time singing about Jesus. My other daughters are the same way, filling notebook after notebook with songs about how they love the Lord and their family. That’s not to say that they don’t ever covet material things, because they most certainly do, but they are filling their notebooks with His name.
Am I?
I’m going to give myself permission to rest today. To soak in all that Jesus has set in front of me, without allowing myself to wonder what He hasn’t.
Want to join me? (click here to find out how you can start implementing Sabbath in your life…:))
By Angie Smith, Bring the Rain
Leave a Comment
Jamie says
Thank you for this. Even when we don’t really want what other people have, it can be confusing and uncomfortable when our “lack” is exposed or up for discussion. So many people just can’t fathom contentment that cultivating it just feels weird sometimes! :0) Thanks for reminding me that it’s not just me feeling that way!
Bindu says
Thanks Angie for the great post. It was such a good reminder that I definately needed today.
Tiffany says
Beautiful post Angie. A reminder that I think so many of us need today.
Rebekah says
for a long time with me it was marriage. as soon as i get married, i’ll be happy. i would think i wasn’t worth something or valuable unless i was married.
i don’t know exactly when it happened but i am most definitely more content with my single state now and am not {currently} freaking out about not being married even though everyone around me is.
am i perfect? by NO means. there are days where i say something to the affect of “Jesus i **REALLY** need a husband” but then He reminds me that at this moment, He is enough. and that i need to find myself in Him instead of a new last name.
beautiful post angie! (as always) 🙂
Rebekah says
and i meant that everyone else around me is married…not that they’re freaking out about not being married 🙂
April says
Yes, I need that rest….I need to just stop, and be…..thank you for this post. I am encouraged!!
Brianna says
Today, this season of my own life, I needed to hear these words. Thank you. Simplicity is definitely something I long for in my life, but, like you said, I wonder just how much I’m willing to pursue it sometimes. But RESTing in the contentment of knowing that where God has me, what He’s given me — well, that’s where I truly want to LIVE.
Laura says
You are so right. I find myself doing this all the time. If only I had this, if only this were that way, if only, if only, if only. Argh! There are some things I wish I could change about my life that I do believe would lead to contentment and better focus on Christ. Now…how to get there and leave all the rest alone? That’s the question. Thanks for a great post!
Laura
Alanaa says
Oh Angie… how I needed this post today. I had a long conversation with my husband last night about this very topic. I need to say no, set boundaries and just get over the guilt that I need to take care of myself spiritually, mentally and physically. I am praying about joining the Bloom Book Club with the book Sabbath… but my life is so full, I don’t know how to fit it in. Everything I do is important to me, but am I taking on too much?
Thanks for continuing to bring attention to this issue.
Heather says
Wow, what a thought provoking post. Words that I needed to hear. I need quiet time to rest, to think, and spend in prayer with Jesus. Thank you for sharing!
Beth Werner Lee says
Yes I do want to join you. I want that very much. Today we slept in, on the livingroom couch under the one air conditioner because of a heat wave (our area has high heat in the fall) and I woke before my dauther and I prayed that Jesus would fill my heart with his love to give her and lead my day so I could walk it in praise…and the phone rang and the nieghbor with three little boys under 5 across the street asked if the baby could stay with us because he’s sick while she took the other three to Biblestudy and didn’t miss it. I said yes, of course. Jesus, lead me…keep my yes coming from your loving yes.
Beth Williams says
I understand the need for a Sabbath. It can be hard to allow yourself to just sit & do nothing.
My husband & I both work busy stressful jobs & drive a lot, living out in the country. After church on Sundays I usually just sit on the couch & “vegetate” on some TV show. I find it helps to relax me & get me ready for another busy week.
Simplicity is another thing we’re striving for. We don’t have cell phones or blackberries. Just the basic trac phone for emergencies. I love the simple life with as few gadgets as possible.
Megan says
Great post, and definitely something I’ve been pondering for awhile. Except that I fall into that “things need to change but yet they are still the same” category. This also reminds me of one of my favorite songwriters and singers, Rich Mullins: “Everybody I know says they need just one thing, but what they really mean is they need just one thing MORE.” And I love the line “I don’t wanna lose the eternal for the things that are passing.” And the point is that Jesus should be our “one thing.”
Thanks for the great post!
Stephanie says
You voiced my very thoughts today… simplicity. My desire for it and rest are strong— and I believe from Him. And yet,… and yet, … my life is not simple and I am not living the Sabbath lifestyle He offers me.
Peggy says
Beautiful…
Alexis says
Great thoughts, Angie!
Did you know that there is a Christian religion that rests on Sabbath?
They’re called Seventh-day Adventists and their Sabbath rest is from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
It’s a wonderful, worldwide Christian faith community with sound Biblical doctrine to support their beliefs! I was born into the faith and baptized when I was a teenager and I love having that sacred time to rest and let go of work-related, life-related cares and be spiritually fed (through individual Bible study, Sabbath school, church service and mission/outreach/evangelism events which we do).
You can learn more about their faith on their official website (see link in Website field).
Read up! Let me know what you think!
May God continue to bless and keep you in your ministry and SELAH, of course! =)
Alexis says
http://www.adventist.org/
— That’s the link to the official website of The Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Traci says
This was so awesome Angie. Thank you! 🙂 http://ordinaryinspirations.blogspot.com
Lena says
I think it all comes down to what or whom we have sitting on the throne of our heart, is it Jesus, or is it money, or maybe just things we can buy with money? Who is the center of our life? like a little child only wants to be with her mommy, that’s how we should be craving only to be close to God. To see him, to feel Him, to have Him fill our heart, to have Him love us, and hold us. Gods Sabbath is a gift to us from the Creator of the universe, He rested on the seventh day, and He knows we need it too. Its a beautiful thing to submit to Jesus in this.
Gina Lind says
Oh Angie, thanks for the beautifully reminder! It’s never too late. I think I will start this weekend to truly rest on the Sabbath. We did when I was a child, and I have gotten away from it.
KrisDot says
EXACTLY!!! This has been SOOOO heavy on my heart lately. We need this so desperately and our society just keeps tempting us away from it. And makes you feel inadequate if you don’t get it ‘all’ done. We gals need to ban together and stand up to fight this endless ‘busy-ness’ thing that chokes the life out of our families as a unified front! Thanks for the words, Angie!