Exodus 15:19-17:7
Matthew 22:1-33
Psalm 27:1-6
Proverbs 6:20-26
23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”
Pastor Amy talked about the importance of a sabbath at conference and it was in the part of the video I shared from her breakout session. That is a part of what was resonating with me 2 days ago. I need to spend time being still and resting with Jesus. That is what a sabbath should be. Yesterday the scripture about Jesus being the cornerstone tells me that I need to orient myself, my life, my works on Jesus. What better way to do that than to have a sabbath. Last night I knew I had an evening with nothing to do and nowhere to be so I went to my room early. I thought I would spend some time with God and go to bed early. I read through the scripture for the "P" in Amy's acrostic P.R.A.I.S.E. and I tried to journal and to just sit quietly with the Lord and listen for Him. It did not work very well or at least it did not last very long. I kept thinking of all the other things I could be doing during this time. The fact that I was sent some videos of conference from Kevin kept taking over my thoughts. So, it didn't take long before I turned to them. I looked at them and found a video editing program to break it down into smaller segments to put on our YouTube channel and make a summary video to share in church. In the end after a couple of hours of work I lost it all due to a program crash. It was all for nothing. I lost my time with God, I lost my work and I lost the extra sleep I thought I would get. It did mean I was awake to receive a call about my birth mother being in the hospital and gave me a chance to talk to her. So I guess God used it for good like He has faithfully promised to do but boy do I wish God would just speak to us more directly like He did with Moses.
Lord, I hear you that I need to do this. Please show me when and how. I want to be obedient I want to experience the kind of intimacy with You that can only come from personal private time with You. I want to learn what it is You would have me know. Do what it is You would have me do or not do. Grow how it is You would have me grow. Say what it is You would have me say. You know me Lord, You created me to be a person of action and impulse, but I truly want my action and impulse to be fully guided by You. You Lord can do all things. You provided! You provided mana every morning and quail every evening and You brought water from the rock. You can show me when and how to take a sabbath regularly. You can speak to me so that I know it is You. You can provide the time and place even when I can't see it. I surrender to You Lord and come to You in humble submission seeking You.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
Even in the desert of our lives, desert being worries, stress, anxiety, family, problems, financial worries, health issues, job issues. These are all deserts in our lives. These are all times when we cannot rest our minds or our bodies will not allow us to, but these are the…