Is Rest My Burden, Luxury, or Rhythm?
Deconstructing Rest and the Sabbath
I’m tired. I need to get away. To feel again. Try to understand why.
I sang this part of “First Love” by Adele in an Instagram reel. I was tired. Deconstruction had me utterly exhausted from all the outgrowing and unlearning.
Before officially moving to Los Angeles, I was in the thick of my deconstruction phase and didn’t have a Christian community yet to lean on to walk with me on all that I was feeling or wrestling with God. With community, I’m now excited to deconstruct and reconstruct.
I needed rest. (I gotta find peace of mind, Lauryn Hill sang.)
Pausing work to rest is a pride issue for me.
Sometimes pausing to rest feels a burden that gets in the way of my productivity. Feels like a waste of time. It gets in the way of a whole 24 hours that I could be doing something.
I could be writing a new blog post, cleaning my home, doing another yoga class, catching up with friends, or pursuing a potential new client for The JoClin Agency.
And sometimes rest feels like a luxury I don’t deserve. I didn’t do enough.
But I don’t want to continue that for myself or the family I see myself raising in the future.
As I was reconstructing life in Los Angeles, I was getting back into rhythms like church, reading God’s Word, and learning how to actually do life vulnerably with community, but I wasn’t truly honoring the holy day of rest, the Sabbath.
I was wrestling with God:
What is rest to me?
Why do I feel guilty for resting?
Why doesn’t rest feel good?
As a Christian, what is the Sabbath day to me?
Is this holy day of rest a burden, luxury, or rhythm?
Even after going to Bible college and doing full-time ministry, I knew I wanted to rest, I knew I wanted to Sabbath. I just didn’t know how.
I call myself Deconstructing Dani because I am constantly deconstructing beliefs and concepts that I was handed and now reconstructing them fully for myself. Unlearning to learn.
So in this post, I’m showing you how I’m now:
Deconstructed Rest as a Burden
Deconstructing Rest as a Luxury
Reconstructing Rest as my Rhythm
Deconstructing Rest as a Burden
In Exodus 20:8, the third of the Ten Commandments tells us to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
As Christians, we are taught that even God rested after six days of beautiful work. After creating the entire world and humanity, the Creator of the Universe rested.
Genesis 2:1-3 says, “So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.”
That’s why we have the Sabbath. It’s a part of Jewish law that I feel has been “lost” in my personal Christian faith.”
But, Dani, the Sabbath is Jewish law. This is the Old Testament. We’re Christians.
Yes, but…
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said,
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
In other words, Jesus did not come to earth to abolish the Laws. He came to fulfill them. So when it comes to the Sabbath, Jesus encourages us to take this law beyond just not working.
The Sabbath is not merely a day of rest that avoids work. This day is not meant to be a burden. The Sabbath is rest that devotes time spent in God’s presence.
We see Jesus highlight this in Luke 6:1-5:
1 On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.” 5 Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Pharisees were Jewish leaders who were known for having their heads up their behinds when it came to Jewish law. Sticklers. They loved following the Law to the tee.
There Jesus was, God in human form. Jesus’ disciples were spending time in Jesus’ presence. The Pharisees were so busy critiquing the disciples for not avoiding work. They didn’t see that the disciples were actually honoring the Sabbath by doing what we are supposed to do on this holy day: spending time in God’s presence.
Jesus responded with this specific story about David for a reason. The men with David ate the bread of Presence.
In 1 Samuel 21, we read that David and the men with him could eat this bread because they had set themselves apart. So they could eat the consecrated bread of Presence that the priest ate.
The Bread of the Presence, also known as showbread, symbolized God’s presence and provision for the Israelites. This bread signified fellowship and peace with God.
I think Jesus told this story for a reason. He was trying to teach the Pharisees that they were focused on the wrong thing. They were so focused on the burden of not working, that they forgot they: to spend time in God’s presence.
The Sabbath day isn't meant to be a burden of a law.
Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.”
The Sabbath was made for God’s people. The Sabbath was made for us.
God made the Sabbath day for us.
God knows how noisy and busy life can get. God knows how easy we can forget His peaceful, restorative presence. The Sabbath is a day when we pause to remind ourselves of God’s presence.
The Sabbath isn’t simply a burden of a rule for us to follow.
Rest is not a burden. It was designed by God just for us to pause and disconnect from God’s creation and connect with our Creator.
Deconstructing Rest as a Luxury
As I reconstruct my faith outside of full-time ministry, I am unlearning rest as a burden or essential rule to follow. Rest now sometimes feels like a luxury, an unnecessary extravagance. The Sabbath day sometimes feels like a non-essential day.
If my week gets the luxury of a Sabbath, it feels like I earned it—like a special vacation, dessert, or cute outfit that I’ve been saving up for. I swung from one side of the pendulum to the other: from essential burden to non-essential luxury.
When I stopped writing about my faith and switched to writing about mental health, I learned that our bodies, minds, and souls need seven types of rest:
Physical Rest: sleep, naps, relaxation, meditation.
Mental: a break from constant thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Emotional: a space to be authentic and express your true feelings without fear of judgment, a space to be vulnerable.
Social: supportive and life-giving relationships that aren’t draining or energy-consuming.
Sensory: a break from screens, noise, and bright lights.
Creative: a space to be creative without the pressure to be productive, time spent in nature, or appreciating art.
Spiritual: connection with something larger than yourself that fosters a sense of meaning and purpose.
God designed us to need these kinds of rest. They aren’t luxuries. They are necessities.
I have to remind myself that God wants me to rest regularly. Rest is not a punishment, it’s not a reward. Rest is a necessity. I have to prioritize reconstructing rest as a rhythm. And doing it with Him.
Reconstructing Rest as a Rhythm
Now that I know rest is a rhythm, I’m asking God different questions these days:
What does it look like to rest?
How do I prepare to rest in God’s presence?
What if Sunday isn’t always my Sabbath?
Dr. Anita Phillips wrote in The Garden Within that, “When we imagine ourselves in the presence of God, we often feel like we have to start talking. Before you do, just be with God and breathe. Remember, fertile soil breathes. Faith is the air we breathe. Let the Creator revive your heart with the breath of life. Let God resuscitate you.”
Dr. Anita Phillips also writes in The Garden Within, “Imagine God’s breath filling your lungs, I would like you to breathe in through your nose, 1-2-3-4, and then, as if blowing up a balloon, exhale through your mouth slowly for 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Do this at least three times as your awareness of the Creator’s presence becomes more and more palpable. When you are ready, talk to your Creator about what you need. And if that’s too hard, you don’t have to say anything. Because God knows what we need before we ask. You can just stand there in His presence with your need laying on the surface of your heart.”
Rest looks like a true pause. Awareness of our Creator. Time spent in God’s presence.
My weekends now feel like a true pause in my week. When I say “Happy Weekending” to my CEO and coworkers, I turn my work brain off and heart posture to be more aware of God’s presence and find time to dance on a hiking trail.
I can go back to those seven types of rest and reconstruct ways to spend time in God’s presence:
Physical Rest: Meditate on His Word.
Mental: Take a break from thinking about anything but God.
Emotional: Create space to be vulnerable with God and express my true feelings without fear of judgment.
Social: Give thanks to God and acknowledging that my relationship with Him is supportive and life-giving, and lean into the fact that He is is here to not drain or consume my energy, but to restore me.
Sensory: Put away all screens, noise, and bright lights.
Creative: Write a song or poem about how good God is, go dance on a hiking trail, go to the museum and appreciate art, or even make art in my home with the mini art studio I’m making.
Spiritual: Pray to God or do the exercise above that Dr. Anita Phillips suggests to reconnect with God and remind myself of God’s presence.
Fun fact: My Dad fancies himself a Messianic Jew. (We grew up on Jewish worship leader Paul Wilbur.) I’m not going to wear a tallit, or a Jewish prayer shawl, while I pray—like he did when I was a child. I want to take this day seriously like the Jews did. But not like the Pharisees. I don’t want to miss out on the why: to spend time in God’s presence.
There is something to learn about the Jews though. I’m watching The Chosen with Angel, my fiancé. It’s fascinating to watch the Jewish people prepare for the Sabbath. Their goal is to create a peaceful environment in their homes, so that they don’t have to do anything during this day of rest except…rest from all work and reflect on the goodness of God.
The Jewish people take their preparations for the Sabbath, this sacred day of rest, very seriously.
Ways Jewish People Prepare for the Sabbath
Clean their homes.
Set the table.
Do laundry.
Do errands in advance.
Prepare meals in advance.
Shower and dress in special Sabbath clothes.
It’s part of their weekly rhythm to prepare for a complete pause. I’m working on creating weekly rhythms that allow me to rest for 24 hours straight over the weekend. I want to develop habits that my children can watch and take as their own.
My college friend Monica came into town. We stopped in a neighborhood bookstore and, oddly enough, my eyes were drawn to a book by a Jewish rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, titled The Sabbath. Maybe I’ll write another post on what I learn from this book. In the meantime, I’m reconstructing rest as a rhythm.
Ways I Want to Prepare for the Sabbath
Choosing any day in the week to Sabbath.
Finish chores and errands.
Make sure I have food in my home.
Clean my space.
Giving people a heads-up that I won’t be as available for 24 hours.
Setting boundaries with work.
Fasting from social media.
I want to take some time to take this law beyond just not working and spend time in God’s presence. I would like to prepare myself for a full 24 hours of disconnection from the outside world, allowing me to connect with God in His presence and pause and reflect on God’s goodness.
The Sabbath is a consecrated day, a holy day. Consecrated is a fancy way of saying a day that is set apart from the rest. As a Christian, I am also called to be set apart from the world. Different.
Question is: Am I setting myself apart for a day that God set apart for me?