The Rest of God -- An Excellent Read

Need rest? I mean real, deep, soul-satisfying rest? Here's an excellent book by Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath (W Publishing Group).

When it comes to a word we don't use often these days like Sabbath, some explanation is needed. Buchanan says that it's more than a day we set aside, it's "an attitude to nurture such stillness." It's rest that is physical, mental, spiritual, but also "the rest of God--the things of God's nature and presence that we miss in our busyness." Rest, he continues, is as essential to our well-being as food and water. That gives me pause to think. Without food and water I will die. Without rest, I will die on the inside.

What if?

What if the rest God gives us changed everything? What if we decided to take time to change our thinking about real rest? Buchanan says:

"It's easy...to spend most of your life breaking Sabbath and never figure out that this is part of the reason your work's unsatisfying, your friendships patchy, your leisure threadbare, your cavations exhausting.

"We simply haven't taken time. We've not been still long enough, often enough, to know ourselves, our friends, our family. Our God. Indeed, the worst hallucination busyness conjures is the conviction that I am God. All depends on me. How will the right things happen at the right time if I'm not pushing and pulling and watching and worrying?

"Sabbath-keeping requires two orientations. One is Godward. The other is timeward. To keep Sabbath well--as both a day and an attitude--we have to think clearly about God and freshly about time...Unless we trust God's sovereignty, we won't dare risk Sabbath. And unless we receive time as abundance and gift, not as ration and burden, we'll never develop a capacity to savor Sabbath."

Rest comes for those who have confidence and trust, and know deep down that God really is good. He really is in control and He, not us, makes the world turn every day.

Check out this book at your library or bookstore. It could change your life. It certainly changed mine.

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10