perspective - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2022 | Day 15: Rested

Over the last several years I’ve had conversations with my friend, Pastor Drew Anderson, about what it means to participate in Sabbath.

Too often this conversation becomes about taking time off or going on vacation. And while this may be a part of what it means to take Sabbath, this is not the primary emphasis for this idea.

I have been struck by the fact that too many in the Western church do not understand what it means to take Sabbath. And I say that including myself into that group. We have become so accustomed to filling every moment with activity. The idea of stillness bothers us. So much so that we can spend hours endlessly scrolling through social media feeds or news aggregators.

But what actually does it mean to take Sabbath? It’s an important question. One we must do better to answer for ourselves. So I will attempt to offer my thoughts on this topic today.

I think the primary focus of Sabbath should not be inactivity or mindless stillness. I think the primary focus of Sabbath should be a purposeful and intentional attentiveness to God. This can include an increased awareness of those things which God has blessed us with. But the idea is not to become enthralled are entangled with what’s around us. The goal should be to look at our surroundings, to consider God’s presence, and then to rejoice in those things.

One way of thinking about it can be of having a holy detachment from the world so we can see what we have around us as the gifts from God that they are.

The primary focus of Sabbath should be a purposeful and intentional attentiveness to God.
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This is not always easy. The circumstances of life can cloud our ability to do this. But I think that should give us more reason to try. To try and take the time necessary to consider what God has been doing in our lives. To give thanks to God just because he is God.

Being rested is not merely about getting enough sleep. Being rested is a spiritual state where we are not restless. We are not constantly burdened by the stressors of life.

I’m not saying we act as if nothing is wrong. I’m saying we cultivate a mindset that in the midst of all that is happening we will take time to spend with God. This is something we must do consciously. We have to make time for it. In much the same way God made time for it in the creation story. God declared the day of Sabbath and commanded that we must participate in it. This is not an incidental command because God had grown tired of creating. This was an act of Revelation for our sake.

Therefore, when we fail to take heed of this admonition, we do so to our own detriment.

I would encourage you to find some time tomorrow to rest with God. For many, it is impractical to do it all day. But it would be wise for us to begin with a set time dedicated to being with God. As we do this we will begin to experience a sense of greater peace. Not necessarily because all life’s problems of going away. We will find an abiding peace within us because we know, in a new way, how faithful God has been to us. And when we have a renewed appreciation for God’s goodness, we can look forward knowing God will continue to be good regardless of what happens on life’s road.

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Lent 2018 | Day #18: Patience

I have stopped asking God for patience. I don’t do it anymore. And the reason I don’t do it is that I know that the second I ask God to increase my patience, something is going to happen to test it! I have decided that I would rather ask God for wisdom. There are several benefits to this approach. The first is that God promises to give me wisdom if I ask for it. I would rather have the wisdom to deal with the events of life than patience. I want to be patient. Please don’t misunderstand. I really do. However, I also don’t want to be constantly putting out fires in my life.

The second benefit I want to point out is this, when I ask for wisdom I am asking God to change my perspective. I cannot look at my situation in the same light if how I see it changes. And wisdom will change the way I see things. That is why it is called wisdom. I would say that almost all of the wise people I know have an uncanny ability to see things before they happen. Not that they have some special revelation from God, but that they can think through situations and important decisions so effectively that it’s almost as if God had told them what was coming. One of the bonuses of growing in wisdom is that if God does share something, we will be able to manage that information in a far better way.

Patience is a virtue, but wisdom is a gift. It comes from experience and from reflection. I hope that as I get older I will grow wiser and by extension more patient. I find that Lent is a great opportunity for both to happen. Don’t waste the opportunity to ask God for wisdom and thereby learn how to be patient.

Lent 2018 | Day #8: Perspective

The cross of Calvary forces us to see the world not from the ground looking into heaven, but from heaven down.

This is one of the most difficult disciplines to develop. And possibly the only thing more difficult may be not losing it once you get it. What I am talking about is PERSPECTIVE. It can be elusive and confusion. We could probably name a multitude of reason for this, but without perspective we will become victims of our own biases.

The cross of Calvary forces us to see the world not from the ground looking into heaven, but from heaven down. We are forced to see what God thinks about sin and the lengths to which God has gone to provide a means of redemption. This is the power of perspective, it changes not only what we see, but more importantly, how we see it. And this is the true value of having a good perspective, we are given safeguards against any temptation to take ourselves too seriously.

One of my favorite “kid” movies is Ratatouille. It is the story of a rat that dreams of being a chef. Over the course of the movie, Remy, discovers his passion and risks everything to achieve it. As the movie draws to a close, Remy faces his greatest challenge, a food critic by the name of Anton Ego. Anton believes that he knows what “good food” is. He goes so far as to claim that if the food is not good he does not swallow! (A rather funny line.)

The reason I bring this up is because in the final showdown, Anton provides an interesting illustration of what perspective is. The irony is that he thought he knew what it was until his was changed! I have linked to clip of this scene below.

I will conclude by saying, work to know and understand God’s perspective. When we do we will better off because we will see the world and our lives from God’s vantage point.