The Principle of Ceasing

Have you ever heard the saying “Stop and Smell the Roses?” Often, it’s a reference to stop focusing so heavily on what we are trying to achieve and not letting life pass us by taking our lives and their beautiful moments for granted. In a world full of distractions and demands, that’s easier said than done; if you ever find yourself in a season of stress or overwhelm, a fellow believer has likely challenged you about this, referencing the sabbath and the need for rest. But the sabbath is so much more than mere rest…

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” —Ex 20:8-11 (ESV)

In Exodus, the sabbath is brought up within the context of the covenant, where sabbath adherence highlighted how God's people would be separated from others and facilitated the community in honouring God's holiness represented in them. The first half of Exodus addresses the Israelites' oppression in Egypt and how God intervenes to save his people. The second half begins with the covenant, addressing how God's people can be shaped into God's representatives in a communal relationship with him. In a chaotic society, this practice directed God's people away from their current circumstances. It realigned them to their creator, where relationships are restored, and humanity can see beyond themselves, solidifying God's faithfulness despite human failing.

This passage links to Genesis 2:1-3 where God’s creation story ends in a day of rest; however, in the commandment here, the focus is not resting but rather ceasing work or social requirements. This break of social convention was unlike any other of the time, marking it as a lamppost of God's people. This day shifted the people's focus away from worldly expectations, directing them towards God's sovereignty and humanity’s role in the covenant, where an entire day would set a consistent reminder that God is in control, fostering trust, gratitude and community.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” — Gen 2:1-3 (ESV)

However, God didn’t rest because he had depleted himself; rest wasn’t about capacity or stamina. I like to think he rested in the way an amazing moment takes our breath away, the type of response that calls for communal celebration where the thing before you is the accumulation of all that you had hoped for but is somehow different and more… you may have experienced something like this in moments such as the birth of your child, your wedding day, when you fulfil a dream, when you accomplish something everyone told you was outside your capacity, or it might even come in a moment of reflection as you take in your surroundings and take stock of your life and all the ways in which you are blessed even when life is chaotic.

In those days being in God’s presence was a big deal, throughout Genesis God shows his faithfulness despite people constantly doing the wrong thing by him, therefor presenting a covenant where humanity had laws to adhere to arguably gave his people an opportunity to take responsibility over their faith through investment and ownership. So, while taking a whole day to stop appears like a big ask through our contemporary understanding, we often miss the magnitude and honour of the invitation to be identified as God's people through a covenant relationship in the historical setting.

Nowadays, it’s easy to shape our identities around what we do or our achievements; I would say I'm a hard worker, a problem solver, and a mum who goes above and beyond for her family, but that’s the whole point of ceasing work because no matter how amazing I am my identity is first and foremost Gods child. Otherwise, when I can’t fulfil the identity markers I've placed on myself, like when I miss something important for my kids, and they suffer the consequences, I’d be left with an identity crisis. The truth is that when I have found myself there, I realised I was building my identity, purpose and worth on myself, not God…. This is why the sabbath is so crucial.

Think about when you start a fast; at first, it's very uncomfortable to give something up, particularly if it’s something you enjoy or deem essential, but by the end of it, you have become reliant on God, and the thing sacrificed doesn’t hold the same value because your relationship with God has become more intimate, and that’s more important. I imagine this is what it would have been like for the Israelites depicted in Exodus, where society focused on what they stood to lose (like crops and livelihoods) God's people knew that despite the sacrifice, the relationship fostered between God and the individual (and among fellow believers) was far more valuable than any worldly thing.

Stopping and surrendering sounds so beautiful, but in practice, it's hard, meaning it is hard…. I have been in a long season of chaos, which is difficult and painful, but as a mother, when my children suffer, all I want to do is help, manage the situation, work hard and solve as much of the problem as possible. but without realising it, I’ve just been striving; sure, God has been with me, and I’ve been working hard to find pockets of rest with minimal to no luck, but I haven’t ceased…. I haven’t just stopped and let the pieces fall where they may, trusting that God will restore what I cannot. I have unintentionally shown my children my identity as an overcomer, which is nothing compared to my identity as God's child. While I want to practice the sabbath, rest can feel out of my control; thankfully, Sabbath adherence is not about sleeping more; it's about stopping, relinquishing control over all the things I hold close and trusting that God has it all; it’s about spending those sabbath times in communal celebration of all God has done, honouring him with my identity as his child whom he loves and cares for above all else so that others can identify him in my life, not because of my great works but his gracious sovereignty.