We experience a unique kind of frustration when we feel that we have gone a long time without rest, whether it be physical or emotional or spiritual rest. We sometimes wallow in that frustration before wondering why it is we seem unrested. Some of us know that we do not make an effort to take Sabbath, or we simply do not believe "there's time" to do so because of the demands of daily life. Or maybe we're upset because we are attempting to practice Sabbath and it doesn't really appear to be working.
Something to consider: Sabbath includes both resting from and resting in. What do these mean?
Resting from something means that we cease to do. We shut down our tablets, we stop responding to work emails, we put away our labors and efforts. We see God practice this cessation Himself in Genesis, where He stops His creation efforts on the seventh day to rest. The Hebrew word for Sabbath, "shabbat", means to "cease from work [or labor]." This tradition is in fact a spiritual discipline, and many Christians sometimes ignore this at the expense of their own growth. They look at Christ's ridicule of the Pharisees' extensions of the Sabbath law and assume that Christ did not mean for us to partake in Sabbath. Wrong! Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He certainly did not intend to cancel out one of the Ten Commandments; He did not criticize the practice of Sabbath as God intended it, but the misinterpretation of the Pharisees who added extraneous laws of man outside of God's original commandments. It was Jesus Himself who said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). I like to think that God knew we would neglect Sabbath, withholding our respect for it in treating the concept as an ideal bonus rather than a revered commandment; it is the only one of the Ten Commandments wherein its dictation begins with "remember", and so I am inclined to believe that God knew we would forget about it.
But returning to resting from. Some of us who practice Sabbath may already have this part nailed. We put away our distractions, and try to do fun things or at least keep ourselves from fixating on our jobs and other responsibilities. That's good, and there's certainly nothing wrong with enjoying some leisure time on your Sabbath days (delight is part of the Christian walk!). However, this is only part of what it means to practice Sabbath.
Some of us often view rest as an investment for future productivity. Although it is true that a byproduct of rest may be future productivity, whether that fruitfulness manifest in work or ministry or relationships, I do not think we are to rest with our minds solely fixated on the achievements of tomorrow. I believe God wishes for us to rest simply for its own sake because it is good for us. In the same way, God gave Eve to Adam simply because it was not good for man to be alone. Yes, the byproduct of the first marriage allows Adam to have a helper who would increase his productivity in stewarding the Earth, but Genesis does not introduce God's decision to grant Adam a companion under the context of productivity. The idea of a suitable helper comes afterwards; God's first concern is with what would be good for Adam in its own right. Companionship, communion, love in itself is good and will remain so even without the follow-up thoughts of an optimized attainment of XYZ goals. John Piper, in his book Desiring God, suggests that the end goal of worship in itself is genuine delight in God. Period. This affection, like "genuine feelings of the heart cannot be manufactured as stepping stones to something else." And after all, Jesus said that the Sabbath was for man, not for man's capacity to do more. Given that one of the core elements of Sabbath includes a cessation of work as an exercise in trusting in God's ability to prune future fruit (and this was quite literal back in the day when your work likely included the actual growth of your food and livelihood), I do not believe that a mind engrossed by the idea of soon going back to complete more work for work's sake (or for man's glory or for the sake of sustaining oneself in a way that is more heavily reliant on one's work rather than on God's grace and power will) will truly honor God or engage in Sabbath correctly. Even Sabbath itself is not something to be completed; it is something to be immersed in.
Yet we must not forget to rest in. Rest in what? Rather, rest in Whom? You already know the answer. But what does resting in God look like? Firstly, we must begin the discipline of resting from in order to make time and space to rest in. After that, well...coming to Him and casting our anxieties and burdens upon Him, at His command, so that He might give us rest (Matthew 11: 28-30) sounds like a good start. Coming before the Lord means that we make special time for Him, set aside only for Him. No, we don't multitask and offer a half-hearted prayer while we scramble our eggs. We find our quiet place and offer our devoted attention to Him. We open our ears and our hearts. We tell Him about all that bothers us; we are vulnerable and real with our emotions, holding nothing back. And we dust off our Bibles and open them up so we can take a listen. Cast your anxieties on Him by sharing, by praying (continually), by praising, and by leaving them in His hands rather than obsessively retrieving them to carry on our own again. But of course it is very difficult at times to trust God to the point where we do not worry about the burdens we have shared with Him. We still have anxiety; we don't trust Him to fully take care of the assignment (as if He is some incompetent child who cannot handle the homework pace). Now we may be tempted to despair. Trusting is so hard even when we want to do it! What is our comfort then? The Holy Spirit; our helper, our power, our friend. He is the One who empowers us and enables us to trust in the Lord; Christ perfects our faith through His Spirit and indeed the Holy Spirit ministers truth to us as God softens our hearts in His hands that we might believe. Faith begins with an act of God, and it ends with joyful hearts that are miraculously at ease. Yes, miraculously.
I know some of us get sick and tired of others telling us to "just surrender it to God." I don't want to undermine how difficult that can truly be. It doesn't really present itself as a satisfying answer. We want the easy and quick fix. And sometimes God does give that to us, but not always. And so we pout, and we take on the garment of discouragement and our souls are downcast. For those of you who resonate with this, I offer Psalm 6 and I leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit Who cares for you.
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
And one last note (an important one, I might add) on resting in God. We prioritize (and perhaps we must re-contextualize here) a focus on doing more than just speaking at God, though spilling out our raw emotions is encouraged! We must our aim and focus must be communion; in other words, we want to spend time with Him. Christianity is relational. As we pursue intimacy, we want our interactions with God to resemble our time spent with close friends and loved ones. Or, rather, our time with friends and loved ones should resemble our time spent with God.