Rest

Sunset view on my Sabbath day :)

Burnout is a common experience… right? Yes? Please say it’s not just me.

My summer schedule is a little crazy at the moment, and it’s only going to get crazier as the start of the school year approaches. In addition to my internship with Table of Life, I have an in-person job four days per week, as well as a remote job that takes up Friday evenings and most of my Saturdays. And on top of that, I have a class through my local fire department scheduled for August, and I’m trying to go to the gym more. I feel like whenever I’m home, I’m staring at my laptop screen, trying to find words for whatever writing assignments I have for that week. I feel guilty taking time away from my various commitments to see friends.

When I brought all this up to Zach about a month ago, he reminded me of the purpose of Sabbath. He explained how Sabbath is the foundation for most spiritual disciplines, as it is based on when God rested on the seventh day of creation. It is also where the Israelites got the practice of letting the land rest every seventh year, as seen in the Bible. Not only is Sabbath good for mental and physical health, it is also an opportunity to trust God more – as the Old Testament contains orders that no one should work or provide for themselves or others on those days. (Hence why the Pharisees were so upset when Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. You get the idea.)

So, in light of my burnout from constantly working – or constantly stressing about work, which isn’t exactly restful – I took a Sabbath day. Zach and I picked out a day in which I could step away from my jobs and internship, and he even said that the day would count for my internship hours that week – even less reason to stress! Luckily, he didn’t hold me to as strict regulations as seen in the Bible, so I was able to drive an hour to visit someone important to me and spend most of the day with them.

In addition to my Sabbath day, Zach also assigned times of silence. The spiritual discipline of silence, he explained, allows our minds to rest, our bodies to be still, and our spirits to listen for the voice of the Lord without any distractions. So, for a few nights over the course of two weeks, I would sit on my bedroom floor, my phone turned off for once, and simply be still for a few minutes. I’ll admit: the first time or two, I was nervous. I kept looking around my room, waiting for a jumpscare from God. But as I did it more often and for longer periods of time, I got more comfortable, and my mind was able to relax. Though I didn’t receive a big, sudden revelation from the Lord, I was able to reflect on some areas of my faith that I’ve been struggling with and begin to work through them at my own pace. (And I think that’s rather beautiful. The Lord is helping me think things through on my own, rather than overwhelming me with answers I may not yet be ready for.)

Overall, the spiritual disciplines of Sabbath and silence were extremely helpful in my time of busyness and burnout. I returned from my PTO Sabbath day feeling refreshed and ready to tackle my to-do list. And the intervals of silence helped ground me in the Lord after some long, tiring days.

I’m currently exploring the discipline of contemplative prayer, specifically focusing on the ideas of “God loves me” and “I love God”. I’m sure I’ll post some reflection on that as well.