Busyness bullies with a false message of fitting in. Most of us have believed the fallacy the world advertises: Achieve, produce, and earn success in order to gain acceptance, love, and ultimate happiness. But the more we fill our lives with yeses, even noble and good ones, who we are slowly drifts into obscurity until all that remains is a shadow of our former self, void of purpose and definition. When we believe there is never enough time to do everything, we become aimless and forget why we are here on the earth. “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content,” writes the teacher in Ecclesiastes 1:8. Sabbath reminds us that we belong because we are already accepted. Rest requires that we be who we are and nothing else. A life built upon Sabbath is contented because in rhythms of rest we discover our time is full of the holiness of God.
Shelly Miller is a veteran ministry leader, blogger, and the author of Rhythms of Rest. She leads the Sabbath Society, an online community. Excerpts are from Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World by Shelly Miller. Used by permission of Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2016.
