21 Days of Moving Toward Godናሙና

Day 10: Be Still

Still. That’s not a word anyone would use to describe our society today. Actually, most would tend to use words that mean the exact opposite. Frantic. Busy. Stressed. Fast-Paced. Hurried. Always on the go. Whether it is the millions of flickering pixels we are constantly fixated on, our seemingly ever-expanding to-do lists, or the lingering need to always be doing something, achieving something, or producing something—we are a people who have forgotten what it’s like to be still. 

God knows we have this tendency. He knows our tendency is to default to finding our identity in what we do, not in who we are. This is why God gave us the Sabbath. Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat,” and simply means to rest or cease from labor. Having a regular rhythm of rest and stillness from our work is so important to God that He modeled it for us Himself by creating in six days and resting on the seventh. Did God rest because He was tired, burnt out, and overworked? No. He was showing us the key to proper Sabbath rest is to be still before you have to be. 

This is the exact opposite of how most of us practice being still, if we practice it at all. Mostly we work, grind, and hustle until we are completely exhausted. Then we book a vacation to try and recuperate, but end up even more exhausted by all the planning and activities we lined up for ourselves while on vacation that when we get back we say, “I need a vacation from my vacation.” 

But what if instead of working non-stop until we stalled out, we decided to follow God’s example and chill out by having a regular practice of being still. This week commit to taking one day to truly be still and experience Sabbath as God designed you to. 

When we move, rest happens.

–Pastor Daniel Young