SAYS FYL

Finding Sabbath Rest in Everyday Blessings –
A Reflection on Small Gifts of Grace

I am always tickled when life gives me unexpected little gifts!

As my hectic week wound down yesterday, I set aside work and personal chores to settle into my Sabbath rest with a cup of tea. It was just a cup of tea, but the quote on the stevia packet brought me to a serendipitous stop: “Disconnect for the Day!”

Random coincidence? Perhaps. But for me it was an unexpected little gift reminding me to stop, to look for other little things that were going to make this particular Sabbath special. That’s what I did, and here’s what I found:

1. The quote (and the tea), of course! From a past experience with a fortune cookie, I have learned to pay attention to what may seem like inconsequential happenings or encounters. These could just evolve into opportunities for me to learn something new or to do something that makes a positive difference. The reminder to “disconnect for the day,” was particularly important yesterday since a Monday deadline was looming over me.

2. The chicoo my brother got me days ago had finally ripened just in time for Sabbath. I haven’t had chicoo in years! Complementing the chicoo, was the guava and fresh peanuts I’d happen to find while grocery shopping. (Give me a bag of boiled peanuts and fruit to replace a meal any day!)

3. Relaxing with my husband and a jigsaw puzzle. Our quiet time is often interrupted by recollections of our early days–things our children used to say and do, struggles we overcame, miracles that carried us through. If we didn’t stop to unwind together, we probably would not revisit our memories as much.

4. Listening to Al Green’s album “He is the LIght.” There’s something magical about family traditions. Growing up, Sabbath always began with dad turning on the Grundig to play Jim Reeves, Kings Herald, or some other “Sabbath” album. While the music played, he’d serve us one of his special Sabbath soups. Not until a tween did I understand that the soup was just as much a gesture of love as it was Sabbath tradition–by fixing supper, he gave mom some alone time (and to pretty herself for the Sabbath).

5. Reading All In by Mark Batterson at bedtime. Whether with the Bible or another book, the Sabbath has been a great time to gain new wisdom for my spiritual growth. When in my Sabbath mode there’s no rush to put down the book and get back to my to-do list. And finding this unread book tucked in my bookshelf was a treat! (See below for some quotes from the chapters of All In I’ve read so far).

There was a time when I would have dismissed these little things I “found” yesterday as just that—little everyday, inconsequential things. But the person I am now stops to consider how they bless the present, my current moments. When acknowledged and valued, life’s little gifts become bursts of happiness and gratitude for the life I have—regardless of what I sometimes wish life could be ;)

Quotes from All In by Mark Batterson:

Here’s our fundamental problem: we try to do God’s job for Him. We want to do amazing things for God. And that seems noble, but we’ve got it backward. God wants to do amazing things for us. That’s His job, not ours, Our job is consecration, That’s it. And if we do our job, God will most certainly do His.

We’ve given people just enough Jesus to be bored but not enough to feel the surge of holy adrenaline that courses through your veins when you decide to follow Him no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.

If you aren’t hungry for God, you are full of yourself.

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. . . . It’s like God says, “I’ll take the blame for everything you did wrong and give you credit for everything I did right.”

Our greatest asset becomes our greatest liability if we don’t use it for God’s purposes!

When will we come to terms with the fact that inaction is an action? The church was never meant to be a noun. And when it turns into a noun, it becomes a turn-off. The church was meant to be a verb, an action verb.

The more God blesses you, the harder it is to keep that blessing from becoming an idol in your life.

One of our fundamental spiritual problems is this: we want God to do something new while we keep doing the same old thing.

Feature image generated by AI

(Looking for more on Sabbath rest? See Sabbath Manifesto, Sabbath by Dan B. Allender, and A Study on Rest)