The Way to Grow

 

I love all the seasons, and perhaps God brings the sometimes slower days of summer to teach us, and to grow us in fresh, beautiful ways. All I need do is to linger in the beauty of our gardens ... our new planter boxes built into our brand new deck, our herb garden, and our veggie garden. The beauty, the growth, the blossoms and the fruit do not happen overnight. And it does not happen with a loud fanfare. It happens quietly, in silence, in the sending down of the roots deep into the soil, of soaking up the spring & summer rains. The tender new plants gain strength so very quietly. And we can hardly take in the beauty of what comes over time.

It's the quiet daily routines and rhythms that bring growth. Resulting in beauty. We can become used to the prevailing thought of our day, that things need to happen instantly. If we need to wait for anything, we very quickly become impatient. But this is not the way that brings lasting growth.

Make it your ambition to live a quiet life.
(I Thess. 4:11)

Our souls need the same ... quietness, pausing, listening, letting our roots grow down into Him. What does the pausing and listening look like for you? For me? Does it happen automatically, or do we sometimes need to make an intentional effort to be quiet, to pause. You would think it would just automatically happen, and yes, sometimes it does.

But other times maybe we need to intentionally plan for quiet. For rest. For a pausing of our work.

Solitude is when you set aside time 

to feed and water, to nourish your soul.

(The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry)

Could this be what our great Creator God modeled for us in the beginning? When "He rested from all His work" on the seventh day, blessing the day and "declaring it holy" (Gen. 2:2-3). Could this be what our loving Father meant when He said "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest". (Deut. 5:13-14) 

Maybe we've grown up with a bit of an aversion to the word Sabbath. It has often been abused, misinterpreted, and has often led to legalistic practices. But maybe we need to relearn the importance of the gift that God desires to bless us with continuously.

About a year ago, after reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and several other books on the same topic, my dear hubby and I put a new rhythm into practice. Even in our retirement, we sensed a need to intentionally set aside days for quiet, for rest. These words are sprinkled throughout all of God's Word. And our days and our weeks so easily can become completely filled up with tasks and responsibilities. This can happen at whatever season of life we are in.

We decided to set aside one day each week to focus specifically on rest. Though we usually think of Sundays being the day for rest, for us Sundays actually are the day of the week that we need to get up even earlier than the other days, causing the day to begin with a sense of hurry. Our Sundays do continue to be a special day set aside for corporate worship with our spiritual family, learning from the insight and teaching of our pastors, all things we love so much. And we do enjoy a slower pace throughout the rest of the day. But we craved for more rest, for a whole day of rest. 

So one year ago on the first Saturday of June 2024, we began what we call our weekly "Sabbath Rest" day. An intentional day of pausing from our work, of resting, of listening to and seeking after God. It's also a day of taking a break from our regular "tasks", and focusing on hobbies, on things that feed our souls, things that give us deep joy. 

Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalm 46:10)

And this is where you would find me today, if you were here with me as I am writing this post. I'm sitting out on our new deck (built for us by dear friends last fall), surrounded by beautiful flowers in the planter boxes and the flower pots right next to me. I'm pausing from my work of the week - much of it that I do enjoy, but also that keeps me quite busy. And I am resting, listening, and my soul is being filled up, and renewed in Him. Which in turn fills me up with joy as I write this post. 

Maybe for you it doesn't work to take a whole day each week for true rest. But you can start with a few hours, or with part of a day. Or with pockets of time sprinkled throughout a very full season of your life. The daily quieting of our souls is so essential, even when we intentionally take a whole day for rest. Pausing, leaving our work to take short, or extended times to care for our hearts and souls is a gift from Him. Cultivating Sabbath hearts, creating healthy soil for our roots to grow down deep into the truths of His love. And we will then overflow with the fruit of thankfulness.

Let your roots grow down into Him,
and let your lives be built on Him.
Then your faith will grow strong
in the truth you were taught,
and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7 NLT