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"Dear Dr. Baab, You Changed My Life": A Sabbath Testimony
By Amy Kohley
Wheaten/Glen Ellen, Illinois
Last September our small group was brainstorming about what to focus on for the coming year and after much discussing and debating we realized that we were all craving the same thing: intimacy with God and the need to slow down our hectic lives, so we are not only praying to God but listening to God. “Be still and know that I am God.”
At one point in the discussion I said,
“Well, I have four little kids I’m chasing around and my life is so crazy right now I just don’t have time to pray every day.”
Someone challenged me, saying,
“If you don’t carve out time now for God, you will never have time, because life doesn’t get easier when your kids get older.”
Her words kept playing through my head and I thought, “What am I doing? Every day I have my list of things to do - why is God last?” I was convicted like never before in my life that God was going to be first on my list every day!
Right after that, I ran into one of the elders, Scott. He was asking about our small group and recommended a book that he thought would provide some good information: Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest by Lynne M. Baab. Scott actually dropped it in my mailbox the next day and I read it that night. I was drawn to her story, not necessarily because of the Godly benefits, but because I felt very caught up in our culture’s rat race. I make lists, I’m very goal oriented, always have to be working or doing something. Each weekend, we would map out everything that had to be done, dividing up the chores and kids and running around trying to get everything done.
I read the book, took notes, came up with a plan and told our family,
“We are going to start observing the Sabbath this Sunday!”
The book walks you through the whole process. She recommends stopping two or three things so you can open up some time for God. I gave up shopping and running errands, using the computer, housework, and driving except to church.
In the beginning, just the physical act of taking a deep breath and slowing down had to be a conscious effort for me. Just taking a nap or laying down to read or rest did not seem right and was a guilty pleasure. And spending the afternoon playing kickball with our kids and having a bonfire seemed like I was just wasting time. I continually reminded myself that God did not rest on the seventh day because He was tired, but because He wanted to enjoy and reflect His glorious creation.
As weeks went by, I was amazed how this day of rest could literally rejuvenate me for the coming week. I wake up on Mondays feeling peaceful and recharged and ready to get back to “work.” Our kids were happy and content, having spent quality time with them. And it did become a weekly rhythm: spend Sunday observing the sabbath, then living with this peace and joy for the next few days and then the excitement of preparing for the next sabbath — because the tricky part is planning ahead and preparing for your day off!
By keeping the Sabbath these past few months, God has taught me what is important. I am so content and grateful for everything God has blessed me with because it IS so much!! Those feelings of “I wish we could replace our old lawn furniture or get a real dining room table or a nicer car” are really gone. Having that day off from worldly pursuits forces you to prioritize what is really important. I don’t have all Sunday to run errands, so when there is time I am only picking the most important things that need to be done. I don’t even make lists anymore. God is first and then if there is something else that has to be done I do it.
For me, one of the most important things God has shown me is His grace. I understood the concept of grace, but it is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do. All that I am and all that I have comes from God alone.
Finally, the Sabbath has taught me how to be close to God, feeling His presence. The best example I can think of, when you are on a relaxing vacation, sitting on the beach or watching the sunset or the stars, away from the daily grind and stress and anxieties and you are so at peace and filled with joy and aware of God’s majesty all around you. So when I start to get caught up in life’s craziness, running on the never ending tread mill, I literally take a deep breath and just stop for a moment and look up at the sky and the clouds or the trees or my children (if they are not fighting) and immediately I can see God’s awesome work all around me and I am filled with the peace of His presense.
A couple of weeks ago we read Ecclesiastes in the Daily Walk Bible and to me it was so perfect in describing what you learn through the Sabbath: “Everything is meaningless!” Your work, your money, your belongings, your doing, your being ... everything is meaningless. But the source of true living, the solution to life’s meaninglessness is our coming life “above the sun”: “Fear God and Keep His Commandments!”
I am sure some of you are thinking “How could I ever take a day off?” But I strongly encourage you to accept this gift from God. Get off the treadmill! Release your anxieties or fears about stopping life for one day because God will bless you. He’ll bless your time and bless your life more then you could ever imagine, because you will find that without God, “everything else is meaningless...”
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