You Are More Than You’ve Been Told: Unlock a Fresh Way to Live Through the Rhythms of JesusSample

DAY 6: The Rhythms of Rest and Real Community

Today is a beautiful day to reconnect with Jesus. Two more rhythms of Jesus that will help us grow closer to Him and be more like Him are Rest and Real Community.

Rest, Sabbath, and Freedom

Jesus’ rhythm of rest and Sabbath was a way of reconnecting with Himself and with God. It was also a rhythm of resistance—a way to resist the ungodly, unfruitful, and life-depleting demands of culture’s view of success. The Enemy wants you to find your value in your accolades, notoriety, productivity, trophies, and networks. God wants you to know who you are without all of it. Rest as a rhythm will help you.

Interwoven into the fabric of creation was a rhythm of weekly rest. When we find ourselves overwhelmed, exhausted, depleted, and feeling disconnected from ourselves, perhaps we are living on a beat that is not consistent with the rhythm we were created for (Exodus 20:8–11). There is a way to get back on the beat.

By enjoying Sabbath rest, you are acknowledging and celebrating every week that your value is found in God, not what you do.

You will not find who you are in your accomplishments, accolades, or the applause of others. You will find who you are in abiding in Jesus Christ—knowing Him for real and resting in His presence, knowing you are loved without producing one thing.

Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) We must remember that the structure is not the point. A close and real relationship with God is the point. This means your structure of rest might not look exactly like my structure of rest. And that is okay! (I share more practical ways to enjoy Sabbath in my book, You Are More Than You’ve Been Told. Read for more.)

Sabbath rest is a gift from God so that you can live freely and fully. It’s the best day of the week. It’s twenty-four hours of posturing your day to delight in the One who created you, living aware of what He has given you, and knowing you are valuable without doing.

Even if you can’t do it as you hope to one day do it, the important thing is that you start.

This week–Do whatever it takes to plan for, set aside time for, and incorporate this kind of rest into your life—to stop, rest, and delight in God.

Real Community

Just as the Enemy hopes you are too busy to rest, he hopes you’re too busy, distracted, and depleted to engage in real relationships.

While on earth, Jesus constantly lived out this rhythm as He spent time with friends, relaxing, eating, and celebrating.

Resisting a culture that praises individualism and practicing a lifestyle of authentic community helps you connect with others, yourself, and God.

Here are two ways to practice this:

Confession

The Enemy does his best work in the dark. If we want actual victory in the places where we feel held back, we must bring what was hidden into the light. Put simply, when you speak out loud about what’s been holding you down, the Enemy begins to lose his grip. There is actual healing in confession. Jesus’ brother James instructed us, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” (James 5:16) When we vocally confess our sins, our struggles, and our worries to another person, and pray for one another, we will live lives that are more healed and more whole.

Celebration

When I have dismissed celebration as a spiritual discipline in my life, I’ve found myself disconnected from myself, people, and God. Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, said, “Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity, the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees.”

We must remember that this is a rhythm of Jesus, and it’s a glimpse into eternity.

The picture we are given of heaven is a picture of a community in celebration. The crowd will be “too huge to count... all nations and tribes, all races and languages (Rev. 7:9-10),” we will all be singing to God together (Rev. 5), and all feasting at a table together (Matt. 8:11). It makes sense that celebration in authentic community is a spiritual practice God longs for us to have. We are literally practicing how we will live in heaven. It also makes sense why this is something the Enemy wants us to be rid of, ignore, and make no time for. He knows how it turns our souls toward God.

Celebration may be a lost habit. But in our marriages, families, friend groups, and churches… we can find it again.

A rhythm of confessing and celebrating in community will help us live lighter and freer, with more peace and more joy. Let’s embrace the life God created us for. Let’s practice heaven.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for time to rest and enjoy being Your child. Help me see the ways I need to realign my life’s structure so that I can fully embrace the life You have for me. Help me be brave as I seek out ways to confess and celebrate. I don’t want to miss out on true rest or real community. I don’t want to miss out on one thing You have for me. Amen.