COVID-19 Novel Encouragement Sample

Practical Tips for Sabbath

Yesterday I shared with you some insights I gained from my sabbatical and how that helped me connect my heart back to God. Believe me, it wasn't easy for me to stop long enough to really hear from God in the depths of my soul. I allowed myself to get very busy with ministry over the past couple of years.

Today I wanted to share some more practical tips on how to begin to develop an ATTITUDE of Sabbath in your heart so you can more regularly enter into God's rest.

Tip 1: Be generous with your time toward what God says is important.
Jesus tells us the two greatest commandments are to love God and love others. I have seen that those who sanctify time and who give time away - who treat time as a gift and not a possession - have time in abundance. They sanctify time - make the most of the time they have for God’s glory. They are generous with their time. They seem to be “all there” wherever they might be and they always seem to be content with the things they have chosen to be involved in.

Tip 2: Sabbath-keeping is more art than science
We need to realize that Sabbath will look different for each of us, and that is okay. Our enemy will try to keep us from sanctifying our time and entering Sabbath by turning it into a legalistic ritual. We are not God, and we should stop trying to be God in the way we try to control the situations around us. We also need to remember that because we are not God, we need to constantly be renewing our minds with the truth of Scripture and stop believing the lies our enemy is feeding us.

Tip 3: Don't lose the gift of play. Do things simply for the fun of doing it.
While it is true that Sabbath-keeping is more art than science, one of the most concrete steps involved is to stop doing other things and be intentional to enter Sabbath. We need to cease from what is routine and embrace that which gives life. That is going to look different for each of us as God has designed us so different things bring us life. Play and Sabbath are joined at the hip, and sometimes we rest best when we play hardest.

Tip 4: We best cultivate the capacity to hear in times of stillness and quietness (Sabbath). 
We need to cultivate good habits in our lives. Sabbath is having practiced the art of stopping to hear God. What we say comes out of what we hear. We can be very busy for God and still not know Him. We need this practice in order to hear Him on a daily basis.

You might not be very practiced at stillness and quietness. I have enjoyed using the "Daily Examen" of St. Ignatius. It is a simple process to be used in the morning or at the end of the day that can help us develop our ability to be still and know that God is indeed God.

1. Become aware of God's presence.
2. Review the day (or yesterday) with gratitude. 
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Choose one aspect of the day and start your prayer from there.
5. Look toward the day ahead (or tomorrow).

Dear Father,
Help us fall more in love with you and grow in our desire to be with you. Help us grow in our ability to be still before you and know that you are God, for we want to see you exalted in the nations and exalted on the earth. Amen

By JB Fagg, BICF-ZGC, Beijing