Five Holy Habits – Rest – Episode 51

Speaker 1 (00:02):

Are you ready to embrace a little stillness, some rest for your soul today? Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast, where we stop and study God’s words and encourage one another to know him better and love him more. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is brought to you by Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:29):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. We are in the middle of a series entitled Five Holy Habits of the Christian. So far, we have looked at the good habits of Bible reading and prayer. It will come as no surprise to you listeners to hear that our topic this week is the holy habit of rest. Yes, this episode 51 is all about rest. Sharon, I love looking at this topic from the perspective of developing the habit of rest. It certainly needs to be scheduled in at my house. Rest does not just happen. How about you?

Sharon (01:02):

Nope. Meaningful rest does not happen at my house either. I guess if you counted electronics, I’d say rest happens. I watch shows on TV. I like scrolling through my phone, but I’m not sure electronic time is actually all that restful. What do you think?

Nicole (01:24):

You know, I don’t know. I find that I’m more frazzled sometimes after I spend time on electronics, then I would have been, if I just like sat and read a book and took a nap or something, you know?

Sharon (01:33):

Yeah, me too.

Nicole (01:33):

It does something to my brain and it starts all these other trains of thought and things I feel like I need to get done and do or think about. And it’s just not very satisfying.

Sharon (01:42):

You’re right. It’s not satisfying.

Nicole (01:44):

Cause you don’t finish anything.

Sharon (01:47):

No, because there’s always more.

Nicole (01:47):

It starts new thoughts. That drives me crazy.

Sharon (01:49):

I agree. Yeah.

Nicole (01:49):

So I was reading about the effects of blue light from TV and our phones, of course, I was reading this on my phone, but the article was saying that the blue light from our screens inhibits melatonin, which helps us sleep. And so that can delay our sleep and then, you know, watching TV and being on our devices also keeps our brains and bodies more alert and activated and less ready for sleep or rest, which is pretty crazy. That doesn’t sound very refreshing.

Sharon (02:17):

You’re right.

Nicole (02:18):

So I find that I get way more rest, like you said, meaningful rest, and satisfaction out of doing a restful activity instead. I like to listen to music or maybe do a puzzle. I love knitting, you know, taking a walk or painting these, to actively focus on one thing that I really enjoy instead of a hundred different things on the screen you know, just to fill the time. It’s a lot better for me.

Sharon (02:42):

You know, you hit the nail on the head. One thing at a time. That’s the problem with screens because, you know, I can flip to Facebook and then I can check Whats App to see if my girls have written or did they send me a Marco Polo and did I get a text?

Nicole (02:55):

And it’s all good stuff.

Sharon (02:56):

It’s all good stuff but it’s bim, bim, bim, bim, bim.

Nicole (02:56):

It’s a lot at once. Yeah. And then you get a text message in the middle of it you have to respond to.

Sharon (03:02):

Right, yeah. So that is not meaningful rest, but taking a walk, you are walking.

Nicole (03:06):

There’s a purpose to it. You start and you finish.

Sharon (03:08):

It’s what you’re doing. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s one thing, it’s just one thing.

Nicole (03:13):

Yes.

Sharon (03:13):

So, so yeah, I like that. I really do. So, and you know, when I had my bout with insomnia in my forties, I discovered that to end the day well I needed no electronics. So you know me, at the end of every day you will find me sitting in my big brown chair with my warm milk and my book.

Nicole (03:34):

Yeah.

Sharon (03:34):

And I need half an hour to 45 minutes. And I always say to Ray, you know, if we watch a movie, I need 45 minutes after the movie’s over, before I can go to bed.

Nicole (03:44):

Really? Interesting.

Sharon (03:44):

Yeah. So, you know, we don’t start movies at nine at night unless Ray wants to stay up till midnight because if it gets over at 11:00 I cannot go right to bed.

Nicole (03:52):

You still need to quiet down.

Sharon (03:53):

I still need to have my warm milk and my book. And so if I’m visiting, like with my girls, they know, we know Mom, you need to stop talking. You need to go have your warm milk and your book. But I do.

Nicole (04:02):

Right, well, you know you need that habit and you’ve put it in place.

Sharon (04:07):

Yeah. That’s one of my rest habits, is to do that at the end of every day.

Nicole (04:11):

That’s pretty cool. I still haven’t tried that. I still need to try that warm milk thing.

Sharon (04:15):

I know. Some people are like gagging thinking about it, so, but you know, chamomile tea would probably work just as well.

Nicole (04:20):

Right.

Sharon (04:20):

It’s so ingrained now because I’m 63 and this happened in my forties.

Nicole (04:25):

Oh, yeah.

Sharon (04:25):

So 20 years of warm milk at bedtime, it really tells my body it’s time to shut down.

Nicole (04:33):

Yeah.

Sharon (04:33):

It’s an amazing thing that that habit has established in me. And I do. I just shut down. So then I’m asleep really fast. It’s very magical.

Nicole (04:42):

Maybe I’ll try that with my kids.

Sharon (04:46):

Yes, time for your chamomile tea.

Nicole (04:46):

Everyone gets warm milk tonight.

Sharon (04:48):

Oh, I love it. So, all right. Well, we’re going to look at three key passages of scripture today that detailed God’s view on rest. The first one is stunning and it is found in a rarely read portion of the Bible, Leviticus.

Nicole (05:02):

Poor Leviticus.

Sharon (05:02):

It’s not the one you go to every day, like, I think I’ll just read Leviticus today.

Nicole (05:07):

Right.

Sharon (05:08):

We’re not reading this necessarily because we’re going to do rest this way now because we’re under Jesus’ law, not under Israel’s laws, but we’re going to read it because God goes to a lot of trouble to try to get his people to rest. He has valued rest since creation, and God does not change. So take from this as we read the clear truth that God thinks rest matters. So Nicole, why don’t you start us off with the first passage?

Nicole (05:38):

All right. I’m going to read about something called the Sabbath Year in Leviticus 25:1-7. “While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, ‘Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you’ve entered the land, I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath Rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years, you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops. But during the seventh year, the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest, but you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath. This applies to you, your male and female servants, your hired workers and the temporary residents who live with you, your livestock and wild animals and your land will also be allowed to eat what the land produces’.”

Sharon (06:41):

Isn’t that the wildest thing? They got a year off.

Nicole (06:45):

I know I’m trying to wrap my head around that.

Sharon (06:48):

A year off.

Nicole (06:49):

Yeah.

Sharon (06:49):

Like 365 days. And they just lived off the land and what the land produced. That’s so fascinating to me. And so cool. Now, I mean, they still had to do a lot of chores. They still had to feed their animals and their kids and stuff.

Nicole (07:05):

Right. They didn’t just sit around and loaf about.

Sharon (07:06):

Right. But they didn’t have to plant. They didn’t have to prune. They didn’t have to weed.

Nicole (07:11):

Right.

Sharon (07:12):

It was a big break of a year. Huh?

Nicole (07:16):

That’s really cool that God gave them a year off from the thing that kind of kept them alive, you know?

Sharon (07:20):

You know, that’s a good point.

Nicole (07:23):

I mean, we can all survive if our houses get messy, but we can’t survive without food. And back then they grew their own.

Sharon (07:29):

That’s how they got their food.

Nicole (07:30):

They didn’t have restaurants to go pick up food. They didn’t have grocery stores. Like that’s how they lived. So for God to, you know, give them that whole year off and to take that burden of keeping their families all fed and provided for, like what a beautiful form of rest.

Sharon (07:45):

Yeah. Yeah. It really was. And he said it was for the good of the land. And we know now that it really was because it needed a year to replenish its nutrients and do all the things, you know?

Nicole (07:57):

There was a purpose for it.

Sharon (07:58):

There was a purpose for the land, but for them as well.

Nicole (08:01):

Yeah. I just think that’s so cool how he made them rest from their…, you know, that stress of like, I gotta do this for my family.

Sharon (08:06):

I’ve got to provide. But yeah, boy, trust that there would be enough food.

Nicole (08:10):

That’s scary.

Sharon (08:11):

That is scary. So my goodness. Okay. Well, I’m going to pick up our story on God’s view of giving people a break from work in Leviticus 25. Now I’m going to read verses eight through 22, the Year of Jubilee. It gets even more interesting. “In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to 49 years in all. Then on the Day of Atonement in the 50th year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land.” Can you just hear it? Woohoo, the Year of Jubilee! “Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there, it will be a Jubilee Year for you when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. This 50th year will be a Jubilee for you during that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own. And don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. It will be a Jubilee Year for you and you must keep it holy, but you may eat whatever the land produces on its own. In the Year of Jubilee, each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors. When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other. When you buy land from your neighbor, the price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last Jubilee. The seller must set the price by taking into account the number of years remaining until the next year of Jubilee. The more years until the next Jubilee, the higher the price, the fewer the years, the lower the price, after all the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests.” Isn’t that interesting?

Nicole (10:01):

It is.

Sharon (10:01):

You always get what you originally had, even if you sell it in the middle.

Nicole (10:06):

Very interesting.

Sharon (10:06):

I love it. So then people always ended up having the same amount every 50 years.

Nicole (10:12):

Oh, interesting.

Sharon (10:12):

Instead of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. This is really, really, this is clever. It is. I mean, God said it, Sharon. Like why am I surprised? Okay. “Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord, your God, if you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. Then the land will yield large crops and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. But you might ask, what will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year? Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year. So the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year.”

Nicole (11:08):

Wow.

Sharon (11:09):

This is, I mean, I’m, all of a sudden loving the book of Leviticus. This is so wise on so many levels. I can’t even stand it. Well, what stands out to you the most? Because there’s so much.

Nicole (11:20):

There’s so much, there’s so many questions too, about what that all means. I, toward the end, though, what really stuck out to me was, you know, they asked the question, you know, what will we eat during the seventh year? And you know, you might think like, maybe they’re lacking faith, but it’s a really practical question.

Sharon (11:35):

I would ask it.

Nicole (11:36):

Yeah. Like, thanks for the year off, but how are we going to do it? And I just love that God so patiently explained his plan to provide them way more than they needed. I mean, up to three years, that’s so generous. You know, he didn’t just give them enough to survive on. Like, oh, don’t worry. You can harvest a few grapes and you can live off a half a year and you can just ration it. He blessed them with three years worth of food.

Sharon (12:01):

He did so that they still had some left when the new crop was coming in.

Nicole (12:04):

Yeah, and the year after that so that they could fully rest that year.

Sharon (12:08):

Yeah. And not worry.

Nicole (12:09):

Yes.

Sharon (12:10):

It was really a challenge to exercise faith. Wasn’t it? And trust. And they’d already seen it in the wilderness. They had manna for each day, but every Saturday or no, every Friday, because Saturday was their Sunday. Every Friday, they got double the portion and it didn’t rot on them on the Saturday. So they’d already seen God provide, and this was kind of a test for them. Do you trust me? And they also had to give back their land that they’d acquired. That was fascinating to me too, on that 50th year. So that everybody started from an even point again. I love that because if you get really poor, it’s harder for your children to have wealth because you don’t have a home, you don’t have money to invest in their education so we perpetuate cycles of poverty.

Nicole (13:04):

Right.

Sharon (13:04):

This plan, which sadly was never executed, scholars believe it never actually happened.

Nicole (13:12):

Really? It sounds so good.

Sharon (13:14):

They don’t know for sure, but there’s never a record that there was this year. That would have been so wonderful. And I think it’s because it required a lot of trust.

Nicole (13:22):

Yeah.

Sharon (13:23):

You know, and people maybe just didn’t have that much trust.

Nicole (13:26):

Right. And to give back land, I’m assuming they acquired the land because their neighbor was in debt or needed help. They’d probably say, okay.

Sharon (13:32):

Yeah, yeah.

Nicole (13:32):

That’s very interesting how they all kind of started back where they were with their own clans and the land that belongs your ancestors. So God kind of gave it; it’s like a year of redemption.

Sharon (13:40):

Yes.

Nicole (13:40):

Even though you had it hard, whatever choices they made that might’ve led to poverty if they made bad choices, God was giving them a chance to start over again.

Sharon (13:47):

Right. And really it wasn’t the kid’s fault. And if it’s every 50 years?

Nicole (13:51):

Oh, that’s right. It would be the next generation.

Sharon (13:52):

That’s right it’s the next generation.

Nicole (13:53):

Oh how neat.

Sharon (13:54):

So the children aren’t paying for their father’s sins. Yeah.

Nicole (13:59):

That’s really neat. What a beautiful plan. It’s so sad that you can’t bring that up, you know?

Sharon (14:05):

I know it.

Nicole (14:06):

To take advantage of it.

Sharon (14:06):

Oh my goodness. To me, it’s kind of like, what if your family just saved up enough money so you could take a year off and go cross country in a,

Nicole (14:14):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (14:14):

You know, you don’t call them trailers. What do you call them?

Nicole (14:17):

Like an RV or something?

Sharon (14:17):

Yeah! An RV or like, no, the big, big vehicles where you sleep in them?

Nicole (14:24):

Oh, the campers?

Sharon (14:27):

A big camper.

Nicole (14:27):

Yeah.

Sharon (14:28):

Yeah. I told you I’m losing my nouns! Yes, it’s really scary!

Nicole (14:37):

I’m not helping, like you know, those things? With wheels and beds.

Sharon (14:37):

Yeah, wouldn’t that be fun? And I know a family who actually did take a year off on a boat.

Nicole (14:42):

Oh my goodness, I’ve always wanted to do that.

Sharon (14:42):

And they sailed on a boat, they went and hung out in the Bahamas.

Nicole (14:45):

Yeah, and just explored the world.

Sharon (14:46):

They had a year off.

Nicole (14:48):

Wow. What a gift.

Sharon (14:50):

What a gift. And God recommended this. God actually commanded this. God likes rest. We need to get that through our heads. God actually affirms rest.

Nicole (15:02):

It’s okay for us to do it.

Sharon (15:04):

It’s okay.

Nicole (15:04):

He wants us to do it. He commands us to do it in some places.

Sharon (15:07):

Yes. I mean, you know, work hard six years of work before you get that year off. But rest well, I love it. Okay. Well, Nicole, I’m going to read our next passage on rest. It’s a short one in Psalm 23 verses one through three. And I’m reading it in the old King James Version.

Nicole (15:23):

That’s a good version.

Sharon (15:24):

“The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” What do you learn from that word ‘makes’, Nicole?

Nicole (15:43):

He makes us lie down. I think that’s so cool. And I like it in the King James too, because it says the word ‘makes’, you know, in the NLT, it says ‘lets’. That makes it so much more powerful here. I think this word really emphasizes that our Good Shepherd really values rest. You know, he knows what’s best for us. He knows it’s good for us. So he makes us rest just like any good mom out there will make their kids eat vegetables. The kids don’t want to, but we know it’s good for them.

Sharon (16:11):

Right. And we know in the end, they’ll be better off if they take that nap or they eat those vegetables or they don’t put a fork in an electric plug, right?

Nicole (16:22):

Yes. We know what’s good for them. He’s a Good Shepherd. He knows what’s good for us his little sheep.

Sharon (16:26):

Yes. So he makes us.

Nicole (16:28):

Yep.

Sharon (16:28):

He makes us lie down. And sometimes I think, wow. Sometimes, you know, if I don’t rest, I’ll have a breakdown. Then I’ll have to lie down. I would rather choose my rest now. And intentionally rest than have this time in my life when I’ve pushed myself so hard that I’m forced into an unhealthy rest because I made myself unhealthy.

Nicole (16:49):

It’s better to rest instead of like having to have to rest for your health or a restorative rest.

Sharon (16:52):

Yes. A preventative rest.

Nicole (16:54):

It’s much more pleasant.

Sharon (16:55):

It is. It is. So, why don’t you read, seeing I read the one I was going to have you read. Why don’t you read in Matthew 11:28-30?

Nicole (17:03):

Sure. “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear. And the burden I give you is light.” I love that.

Sharon (17:22):

I love that too. Rest, rest, rest. It’s all there. So here we have it. Once more God desires for us to not be weary or heavy burdened. That doesn’t make him happy. When we’re heavy burdened, he wants us to come to him and rest. Nicole, what is it about us human beings that makes it so hard for us to just stop and do the rest thing?

Nicole (17:48):

Why?

Sharon (17:50):

Why?

Nicole (17:50):

Our culture is one of supreme busy-ness, isn’t it? I feel like the busier you are and the harder you work, the better you’re perceived, you know? Sometimes I feel like I’m being lazy if I sit still too long. Or if I’m not completely spent by the end of the day, then I didn’t do enough today. You know, it’s not a healthy way to live.

Sharon (18:08):

It is not.

Nicole (18:08):

No, it’s not good. So it’s a journey for sure to learn to truly rest in God. But I know like your life and my life have been so much better for learning this.

Sharon (18:17):

Yes it is. Absolutely.

Nicole (18:18):

So it’s definitely worth the work. So I look back on the before and I don’t know how I survived it. I really didn’t do it so well. And I was so frazzled and at my end all the time before rests, and honestly I get more of the important things done now, trusting God enough to rest. He really does bless that time. And it helps to teach me the things that truly matter. And to let go of the ones that really aren’t worth the doing.

Sharon (18:43):

That’s exactly right. That is exactly right. We get so busy that we then don’t even do things well. And that’s what you were saying. When you learn to rest, your work times are so much more productive because you’re not just dragging to get through. You’re refreshed because you stopped.

Nicole (19:01):

There’s a purpose to what we’re doing.

Sharon (19:02):

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I work better after I’ve rested.

Nicole (19:06):

Yep.

Sharon (19:06):

So, all right. Well, let’s talk about practical ways to get that hard to find rest time now. We’ve talked about all the hindrances. You know, it’s hard, even for people like me who have no children at home to rest, unless I make a point of it, electronics tempt me. There’s always something to do around the house to clean or tidy or in my case, because housework doesn’t really tempt me all that much, another blog to write, or another podcast script to polish. But you know what? I think it’s hardest on those who are caregivers to find rest, whether it’s a mama like you with young children or like me during my season of taking care of Dad Gamble, that’s the hardest because they need you.

Nicole (19:49):

Yeah, they do.

Sharon (19:50):

So why don’t you share first? How do you carve out time as a busy mama, with four kids and a puppy.

Nicole (19:57):

Ha, the puppy!

Sharon (19:58):

Cause that takes a lot of work too; to find rest. How do you do it?

Nicole (20:03):

Ah, wow. It’s a journey like I said before. But I have a nice rhythm to my days now. It’s the only way I can get any rest in. I’ve needed to be intentional and plan for it because like we say a lot, rest is not going to just happen. So, and I know, honestly, I know some of you are listening out there thinking that, although this sounds great, rest seems impossible. I know because I did. It’s overwhelming at first and I wasn’t sure where to start. When you’re out straight, you don’t think you can add anything else in, but these things don’t add more to your plate. They really, really don’t. They help carve out times that rest is sweet and restorative and not another to-do on your list. And many studies show that rest actually make you more productive when you do work.

Sharon (20:47):

Yes.

Nicole (20:48):

So it’s something worth the doing. So, okay, this is what we did. Josh and I started by sitting down and figuring out what in our life we were not happy with. Our main concern was the over-scheduled, crazy pace our life had taken on. And the constant exhaustion, you know, the feeling that we never had enough time or energy to do anything really fun or, you know, really that we even had permission to not be this frazzled.

Sharon (21:11):

Oh isn’t that sweet. Permission not to be frazzled.

Nicole (21:13):

Yeah.

Sharon (21:14):

Granted.

Nicole (21:15):

Yeah. Thank you! You know, we kind of just assumed rest would come naturally as the kids got older and got less needy, but we’re all out of the baby stage now and we were still super stressed. So we had to get serious if we wanted to change our lifestyle. We started by clearing our plate of some of the extra things, mostly things we felt we had to do, but really didn’t or things we just didn’t enjoy but you know, we just got used to. You know, filling up our plate full. So once you get rid of these things, you kind of get, we got used to the spaces in our schedule for a bit, it’s weird to have gaps.

Sharon (21:51):

Yes, to actually have gaps.

Nicole (21:54):

Yeah, it’s weird. So we had to kind of get used to that. Honestly, it’s weird to have free time, we’ve always scheduled every bit of it, but some beautiful and spontaneous family time has happened in those boring unplanned moments.

Sharon (22:06):

See! You need boring in order to invent fun things.

Nicole (22:10):

It’s been so good for our family just to be like, oh, we have nothing planned. What should we do? It’s been great. So, you know, in doing that, we set limits on our tech time and our TV time, which is very important for a young family. And then we started adding in some daily and weekly habits to help us put God first in our life because none of these things, you know, that we were going to do would really take hold without God being the center as he is the giver of true rest. You know, you could try all this, but if we’re not having quiet time and praying with him, we’re not going to get rest. So Sharon, it’s so worth the planning to do this. I know you know this well, and I’m so thankful you’ve shared your heart for rest in God and started this ministry that has truly changed my life.

Sharon (22:52):

Good.

Nicole (22:52):

We have more time now for things that are life giving, you know, the things that fill us up inside, you know? We’ve been able to take on some hobbies that we really enjoy and thought we would never have time for. And we’ve been able to make fun plans with family and friends on weekends. That used to be so chock-full, I’m telling you, everyone, life is so much more enjoyable with the habit of rest.

Sharon (23:16):

Yes, you don’t have to do it all.

Nicole (23:18):

You don’t have to do it all!

Sharon (23:18):

Choose a few things and welcome free time.

Nicole (23:21):

Absolutely, it’s so wonderful.

Sharon (23:24):

Wonderful. I’m so happy for you.

Nicole (23:26):

Thank you.

Sharon (23:27):

I’m glad you’re bored every once in a while.

Nicole (23:29):

It’s great to be bored.

Sharon (23:29):

It’s great to be bored.

Nicole (23:31):

I love it now.

Sharon (23:32):

So good. Well, my hardest time obviously was when Dad moved in with us. I mean, even giving him eye drops took an hour, three times a day. There was six different drops. They had to be administered 10 minutes apart.

Nicole (23:45):

Oh wow.

Sharon (23:45):

So, you know, give him a drop and then you’d, you know, get him out of bed. And you’d give him another drop and you’d get him dressed. You’d give him another drop and you’d take him to the bathroom, you give him another drop. So it just, it was a lot of work and he needed us for everything. So, and then in the night I had a monitor and I needed to listen cause he needed us in the night too. And waking Ray up, wasn’t worth it. He sleeps so soundly it was easier to get up and do it by the time I’d have woken Ray up.

Nicole (24:12):

Right.

Sharon (24:13):

So, it was a tiring time.

Nicole (24:15):

Yeah.

Sharon (24:16):

But what I did was, I still had my Selah days and I just hired an aide all day long. I spent Dad Gamble’s money. I spent down my inheritance, you know, on that. And I went away for the day anyways.

Nicole (24:29):

Oh, that’s so important.

Sharon (24:29):

I just did. And I hired aides twice a week in the middle of the day so that I could get away again and do my things that I had to do. Friday night, date night, we hired an aide again.

Nicole (24:41):

Oh, that’s so good.

Sharon (24:42):

We just did, because I knew that I was in it for the long haul. He was going to live with us as long as he lived. And he could have been a ‘long-liver’. He only lived for 20 months, but I didn’t know.

Nicole (24:53):

Right.

Sharon (24:53):

And I needed to hold out. So, I just scheduled, like you said, rest doesn’t just happen. I had to schedule it.

Nicole (25:00):

I need to get better about scheduling date nights.

Sharon (25:02):

Yes, Oh, date nights are awesome. Yeah.

Nicole (25:03):

They are.

Sharon (25:04):

Even if it’s just, you know, watching a movie together on the couch with popcorn, it’s a planned event.

Nicole (25:10):

Yeah, exactly.

Sharon (25:10):

So, okay. So here are some practical tips. Number one, use your calendar, write it down and treat it like you would any other commitment. On this day our family is going to keep the day free and be bored together.

Nicole (25:26):

Yep, that’s our Sundays.

Sharon (25:26):

Hey, do you want to do …? Nope, can’t. We’re busy

Nicole (25:27):

Can’t, it’s our bored day.

Sharon (25:29):

It’s our bored day.

Nicole (25:29):

Our day is already scheduled.

Sharon (25:31):

Exactly. Do it, write it down.

Nicole (25:33):

You have to.

Sharon (25:34):

I do that with Selah days. A Selah day goes right on the calendar. And if I have to change it because like my mother’s having surgery?

Nicole (25:41):

Right.

Sharon (25:41):

You know, I write another day down.

Nicole (25:43):

Oh, right away. That’s good.

Sharon (25:44):

Right away. That’s my rule. I cannot erase the Selah day till another day is planned.

Nicole (25:50):

That’s so good cause it’s easy to push it out.

Sharon (25:51):

Oh. And then it gets pushed and pushed. Right. Number two. You think ahead, if we’re going to have a Sunday rest day or Sabbath-ing kind of thing, you’ve got to get your work done beforehand. You work a little harder so that you can rest. And number three, don’t fill vacation so full of travel that there are no rest days to just sit about and stare at trees or knit or crochet or swing in a hammock.

Nicole (26:16):

Right.

Sharon (26:17):

You know, when we do vacations now we schedule a couple of days at home before we go back to work as part of the vacation.

Nicole (26:26):

Right.

Sharon (26:26):

Because otherwise you come back and there’s laundry to do, there’s mail to answer. There’s bills, there’s unpacking. And if you go right back to work, it kind of takes all the fun out of the vacation. So, you know, if we have nine days, we go away for seven and we have two at home.

Nicole (26:41):

That’s really smart.

Sharon (26:44):

Ta-dah.

Nicole (26:44):

We always clean our house spotless before we go on vacations.

Sharon (26:46):

Oh, that’s a good one too.

Nicole (26:46):

So we come home. Yeah. And it’s like, ah, but still there’s still lots of laundry in the luggage, you know.

Sharon (26:52):

But at least you don’t have a messy house as well. So that’s so good. Okay. So we are running out of time here. So Nicole, what are some of the benefits of this habit of rest? We’ve talked about a lot of them, but just give us an overview of the benefits.

Nicole (27:07):

Overview. If we establish, you know, by establishing a habit of rest, it gives us a place to go back to when troubles or stress come our way. Satan is actively trying to pull us from God any way he can, and we need to be ready and aware that these waves of trouble will come. But God didn’t design us for endless work and toil and misery. He’s a good God who longs for us to rest and be whole and complete in him. And as he’s the, you know, he’s the only one that can fill our days with stillness, amid the storms of life. Sharon, there’s this undercurrent of calm now in our household, truly there is because of this pattern of rest. There is a peace always there now even when we hit a busy spell or a hard struggle that we really can’t avoid. We can go back now to these habits and patterns that we put in place. So the busy-ness and the crazy is temporary. The valley is shorter, shorter to walk through and it’s left less self-imposed really. You know, we’re frantic and busy! Survival mode is the exception now and not the rule for us.

Sharon (28:03):

I love it. That’s wonderful. Well, that’s our third habit. We’ve talked about the habit of Bible reading, how important it is to get God’s word in us every day, the habit of prayer, where we’re surrendering ourselves, where we’re remembering who’s in charge and who is not and asking for help with the day. And a habit of rest, intentional rest that restores so that we can work hard and enjoy it and not be on this endless treadmill thing. So let me pray for you listener and for Nicole and me as well as we work on. We work on rest.

Nicole (28:43):

Yes. Work on rest.

Sharon (28:46):

Oh Lord, how I thank you that from Leviticus all the way through the New Testament, you want rest in your people’s lives. Forgive us that it’s so hard for us to grasp that Lord. Forgive us for not being made to rest like you want us to. Father show each of us in our unique season of life, how to schedule rest, how to enjoy it without worry, without guilt. How to know that we’re pleasing you when we stop and we’re still. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (29:29):

Thanks for joining us today. We love comments. Pop on over to sweetselah.org/podcasts. and tell us about your rest habits. I bet there are way more ideas out there than what we mentioned today. Would you like our monthly emailed newsletter? There’s always a note from each of us catching you up on our lives, as well as some key prayer requests for this podcast ministry. Go to sweetselah.org/donations and sign up to be a podcast partner by becoming a monthly donor of any amount. Even a dollar a month gets you in the club. Make sure you put ‘podcast partner’ on the comments line, and we will add you to our email list. Making these podcasts costs about $200 a month. Please help us cover the costs and do come back next week when we look at holy habit number four and episode 52 Service. We’ll talk about how to serve wisely and generously while still maintaining some rest times. Oh boy, Sharon, that’s going to be interesting. See you then friends. And until then we hope you find some sweet moments of rest right in the middle of your busy week.

Speaker 1 (30:36):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. This Sweet Selah Moments podcast is a co-operative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found@sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.