Conviction In An Age of Compromise

“This what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15). Did you know that you are allowed to rest?

The weekly data of church leaders during our national pandemic has revealed that exhaustion, depression, and discouragement has crept into the hearts and minds of our spiritual leaders. PRAY for them – this is not the time to criticize! Leaders have acknowledged they are working harder now than pre-COVID. We must confess that we have worshipped at the altar of technology believing it has brought convenience, simplification, and made life over-all easier. Technology has caused our lives to become ragged, frazzled, and dissatisfied. This has resulted in emotional exhaustion, psychologically overworked, and spiritually malnourished. 

The answer is to over-come this nonsense by living in the four movements of Sabbath rest. Formation only occurs in repetition. So, this exercise is not a one and done exercise. It is a lifestyle that must be enforced no matter what happens around us. Consider these four Sabbath movements.

1. Resist Work – Simply stated – STOP WORKING! Sabbath rest is when you stop acting as if you are god and open yourself to the comprehension that God is God.
2. Resting & Restoration – It is not until you stop your work and allow Christ the Shepherd to do His work of restoration in us. Your soul is rarely nourished through entertainment. Stop acting like you are on a mission. Rest your mind, emotions, will, body, and intellectual thirst.
3. Remember Your Identity – It is too easy to distort our identity in the workplace. One of the unique features of the DISC Profile Assessment is that it shows you three graphs: who you are at work, home, and your true self. It is not until you truly rest that that you realize you need God more now than ever. He alone is transcendent. Think about the Apostle John’s transition from being a Son of Thunder to a lover of Christ with his head on the chest of Jesus. His identity shifted.
4. Reveling in God’s Goodness – John Ortberg suggested that we need to arrange our life so that sin no longer looks good to us. We tend to fall into a trap that our faith is only about self-denial. At some point we need to feast in the goodness of God

Sabbath cannot save your soul, but it may very well save your life! (Swoboda – Subversive Sabbath).