The Rest That Heals
Feeling as though I have unpacked carton after carton of emotional trauma only to scatter pieces all around me with no resolved place for them to go, exhaustion sets in. Perhaps it was a zeal to “get to the bottom” of my pain, or maybe short-sighted haste drove me on. Either way, I failed in finding the rest that heals and instead, am left with overwhelm at the thought of the work still remaining in my healing journey.
At times, our drive to find the rest we think we need, ends up creating an endless loop of work which never arrives at the resting point we hoped.
My habit of enjoying a full Sabbath on Sundays, begun almost two years ago, slowly shifted from a day of rest and worship to a day where I could work on my healing journey.
From incorporating journaling, reading, painting, or processing emotional pain in some way to planning questions for my next therapy session, I justified the shift. It all sounded good given the difficulty in finding enough time during the week when I work full time, have home responsibilities and write on the side.
Yet despite avoiding the “normal work tasks”, I worked harder on Sunday than any other day.
Until finally noticing as Sundays drew to a close, I felt anything but rested or renewed. In fact, I felt restless, agitated, and anxious. And no closer to organizing my emotional baggage.
Pursuing the rest that heals seemed further away and more like a dream than a weekly reality.
Coming across several articles, I wrote almost three years ago on the topic of rest, from various perspectives, triggered my seeing the word “rest” almost everywhere I looked. In books, bible verses and even work-related material.
My therapist took almost an entire session discussing the importance of rest to my recovery. She emphasized a deeper rest than physical rest. A rest sourced in trust.
Pointing out my incessant “working” on healing was in essence keeping my focus on the problems, brokenness and past events, she encouraged me to step back.
The most compassionate thing I could do for myself was to put it all down even for a short time and trust God with my inner healing.
Reflecting on her words reminded me of the reason I began a Sabbath practice.
Gentile Christians are not under the law’s Sabbath requirement. Yet even for the Jews, God never intended Sabbath to be a “duty”, on the contrary, it was a gift.
God intended the Sabbath as a time of rest and restoration necessary for our healing and wholeness. While Sabbath is not a law for the Christian, it has many benefits.
Some Christians choose to Sabbath on Sundays, as for most, it is a natural rest and worship day. But I also know Christians who Sabbath on other days.
Jesus, as a Jew, practiced Sabbath according to the law, but He also Sabbathed at other times too, especially after intense periods of ministry.
Even non-Christians employ the principles of Sabbath. many places of employment allow “sabbaticals” or extended periods of restful leave.
As I re-visited the concept of Sabbath, re-establishing my motives and beliefs surrounding my choice to pursue the rest that heals, I considered them in light of my healing journey. In a remarkable way, God began revealing how Jesus healed repeatedly on the Sabbath.
Many commentaries express the reason for His healing on the Sabbath was to establish His Lordship over the Sabbath. But what if He healed on the Sabbath for another reason?
Nothing Jesus did was without specific intentionality. He chose to heal on the Sabbath.
I believe it was more about confronting the religious leaders on their own violation of God’s Sabbath laws. For while they ceased their everyday work, they created another form of work for the Sabbath: the work of keeping up appearances and following ridiculous rules.
Which led them to callously insist Jesus was “working” on the Sabbath when He compassionately healed, while turning a blind eye to their own superficial observance of the Sabbath.
But even more than confronting the hypocrisy and hardness of heart of religious leaders, Jesus healed on the Sabbath to reveal the truth that God made the Sabbath holy. He made rest holy for the express purpose of renewing us, restoring us, and healing us.
Resting in God’s holy Presence brings wholeness to us and flows through us in all we do afterwards.
To partake of God’s holy, healing rest, to put down our efforts for even one day allows us to heal from all the ways life tears us down, exhausts us, and uses us.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
This holy, healing rest is what was missing from my life, and what sits at the core of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11. The putting down of my need to work and removing myself from the center of it all, as if my healing depended on my labor alone.
“Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you”, yes, it’s time.
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