There are wonderful promises in the word of God about supernatural peace of mind.
None of these promises will work the way they are supposed to if day after day, month after month, and year after year you ignore your need to rest.
You will be amazed at the spiritual progress you will make in the paths of peace when your finally humble yourself by admitting that you need to get your rest.
Always remember that physical rest is only half of the rest that you need. You need to take a worry holiday. Actually, we shouldn’t be worried about anything because we are praying about and trusting God for everything. But you can at least get a start on that life of peace by gentling reminding yourself that you are on Sabbath and that you are not going to think about that problem right now. You will think about it after the Sabbath is over. The only exception to this rule is if the Holy Spirit suddenly starts speaking to you and giving you wisdom about what to do. In that case you aren’t worrying about the problem, you are receiving the answer to the problem.
Remember, each Sabbath is a mini vacation. Plan to relax and on the moment when your Sabbath begins get into that “vacation” frame of mind.
If the Creator of the human body tells me that I need to rest one day in seven, then my body and my mind are designed to work at their optimal efficiency if I rest one day in seven.
It is a humbling thing to learn to rest. When I decide to rest, I am admitting to myself that I need to rest. I am acknowledging that I am not strong enough, not tough enough to go day after day after day without rest. I am acknowledging that God is way smarter than I am and that God says that I need to get some rest.
Maybe we aren’t as lazy as we think we are; maybe we are just tired and stressed out. I wonder if we really got the physical and emotional rest that God tells us that we need if we would suddenly find the energy to clean out that basement or garage (or whatever else it is we keep putting off)?
God is smarter than we are. I’ll make you a bet. If you start to rest, you will find yourself accomplishing more in six days that you used to accomplish in seven.
God tells us that we need to plan to rest. There are no specific rules that we have to follow, but one way or another, we do need our rest.
My lawn really needs to be mowed. I was too busy all week to do it. It rained all day Saturday so I couldn’t mow it. Now it’s Sunday and sunny, but this is my Sabbath. What should I do?
There are no rules and no one is allowed to act as your judge. If the weather report shows that it will rain all day Saturday but be sunny on Sunday, then I might begin my Sabbath a little early on Saturday and end it in time to mow the lawn on Sunday. Or I might wait to mow the lawn until Monday. Or I might just go ahead and mow it on Sunday. There are no rules, but there is principle: I need to get some rest. I’ll do that as best I can and somehow get the lawn taken care of and I’ll do all of it without guilt.
“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival, a new moon, or a Sabbath day.” (Col. 2:16)
That means that you are going to have to figure this out on your own with God’s help. I am trying to learn to take Sabbaths. I am not allowed to judge you if you are not interested in taking Sabbath rests. And you are not allowed to judge me because I am trying to practice this principle.
