Finding Freedom in Sabbath
Sabbath didn’t come naturally to me.
During my doctoral studies—a time when productivity felt essential—I felt a tug to set aside one day each week to stop. No work. No research. No “just this one email.” At first, it felt like swimming upstream. But the more I practiced it, the more I realized: Sabbath isn’t just about rest. It’s about celebration.
It was a colleague who modeled this kind of celebration for me. He and his wife took Sabbath so seriously that she, a nurse, refused to take shifts that conflicted with it—even though it meant missing full health benefits. That seemed wild to me at first. But their lives preached a quiet sermon: If we honor God first, He will take care of us. That kind of trust stirred something in me.
Sabbath became a weekly act of faith.
It became a gift I didn’t even know I needed. I had entered ministry ready to “endure hard things” for the Gospel—but somewhere along the way, I started chasing approval tied to standards that kept shifting. It was like running on a treadmill someone else controlled. The pace kept picking up, and my worth got tangled up in responsibility. Before I knew it, my soul was worn thin.
One Sunday, as I wrestled with upcoming demands, the Lord interrupted my thoughts with a gentle but jarring word: “I’m not asking this of you.”
That moment stopped me in my tracks. Not everything good was something God asked of me. I had said yes to pleasing people more than I’d said yes to the pace of Jesus. I realized I wasn’t worn out from the pace of life—I was exhausted from trying to outrun it.
Stopping on Sabbath made me face the very fears I had tried to outrun—disapproval, rejection, even insignificance. But in that quiet space, Jesus didn’t shame me. He sat with me. I stopped striving and started listening.
And slowly, Sabbath became a sanctuary.
What wore me down wasn’t other people’s opinions—it was the pressure I placed on myself to meet them. Jesus didn’t remove every challenge, but He met me in it and quieted me.
Friend, I want that for you too.
You can trust that He will hold the world—and your life—together when you let go for a day.
You don’t have to earn your place or prove your worth. You can stop. You can celebrate. You can trust that He will hold the world—and your life—together when you let go for a day. Sabbath is a declaration that God is in control and you are deeply loved.
So, if you’re tired, spinning, or just trying to keep up, hear this: You are worth the pause. He’s not asking you to carry it all. He’s inviting you to enjoy Him.
Make space. Light a candle. Laugh. Nap. Worship. Feast. Celebrate.
Because the One who commands rest is the same One who calls you His. And He is always worth trusting.