COVID-19 Novel Encouragement Sample

Reconnecting Your Heart to God through Sabbath

"Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts." - Proverbs 4:23 (MSG)

Periods of rest and sabbath can help us take the necessary time to stop, listen to, and contemplate what is in our hearts. As we become quieter in God's presence, the opportunity for prayer and honest communication with God opens up. We need to draw out our soul and help it say what it needs to say to God and in turn, hold ourselves in a place of listening to what God wants to say to our soul.

Have you used this time of quarantine over the past month to quiet your heart, draw near to God, and let your soul speak with God? Have you given yourself time to linger there and let your soul hear from God how much He loves you and wants you to enjoy His presence?

Often we work hard for years and forget to contemplate what is in our hearts. We miss the God-given desires that He has placed there.

But how do we get to the point where we are tapping into our God-given desires again? I have found that it comes when we truly enter Sabbath rest and let God speak to our hearts. In my job, I had the privilege of starting a month-long sabbatical on January 23rd. It seems like God wanted to make sure I really did stop work by having the rest of the country stop as well. It was a blessing to have already planned for a month of "hunkering down" and not leaving my house. I could focus on reconnecting my heart to the Lord and renewing my passions for what He is calling me to do.

During my sabbatical, I was reminded that Sabbath is both a DAY and an ATTITUDE. Moving to the point of applying this will require us to REPENT -change our minds- about how we think of and view REST.

Too often we mistake leisure for Sabbath rest. Leisure is what Sabbath becomes when we no longer know how to sanctify time. Leisure is Sabbath bereft of the sacred. So we need to learn to stop to find what is missing. The essence of Sabbath is paying attention. It is being fully present, wholly awake, in each moment.

Before we cultivate a Sabbath day, we need to cultivate a Sabbath heart. We must learn to enter into God's rest, regardless of how busy or unbusy our schedule might be. The Chinese character for "busy" is máng忙. It comes from 忄(心 xīn) 'heart' and 亡 wáng 'flee; lose; die.' Don't allow "busyness" to cause you to lose heart or rob you of your passions.

While life is still slow, I encourage you to intentionally let your heart enter Sabbath rest. Cultivate a listening heart and pay attention to what God is saying.

As life here in Beijing starts moving toward greater activity, we're all going to be tempted to get busy again with life. My prayer for all of us is that we will learn how to sanctify our time and to enter into God's rest through the regular practice of Sabbath. I believe that in doing so God Himself will re-ignite a fire in our hearts for His glory and the growth of His kingdom that He has called us to be involved in.

Dear Father,
Forgive us for our lack of Sabbath, an unwillingness to enter into your rest. Fill us with your Spirit and teach us to quiet ourselves down to the point that our souls can really engage with you around all the burdens and challenges we are facing. Help us to stay there and listen to You remind us of how much you love us and want our lives to be full of abundant joy. Give us the ability to choose healthy rhythms of life that protect our Sabbath. And when we do have to deal with busy schedules, help us know how to sanctify our time in the midst of that busyness. We want to live for your glory. Amen.

By JB Fagg, BICF-ZGC, Beijing