Stress Test Devotional May 18
May 18, 2024
DEUTERONOMY 5:12-15 | Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Faith works! As we explore this theme, I want to begin with a qualifier. Faith does not work frenetically or desperately, like I often did at the last minute in my academic career. The Sabbath command reminds us that God insists we stop working and rest, trusting when we do, that the world will not collapse or the church implode. Responsibility should not become hyper-responsibility, as if everything ultimately depends on our efforts. Our contribution to God’s work are vital, and they count! But it is our privilege to be included and valued in his great work because he is dependent on our success, not because he knows to be fully alive we must partner with him. The Kingdom will come even if we are sidelined.
All our work and industry can be less stressful and more joyful if we remember that God is able!
Do you work with a calm purpose, trusting in God’s capacity?
Or are you frenetic and often exhausted?
