iampiper

I cannot shake this Sabbatismos, finding rest in God; I should say the Holy Spirit continues to whisper to me…rest in me….rest. I have had a trying week, and finding rest has been challenging; not more sleep, but rest. I have been chewing through many books on Sabbath rest; one particular book, which I have not read yet but thumbed through spoke this to me today:

We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive, that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose petals. The ice on the pond comes and goes. The wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window, but we don’t see her. We avoid the cold and heat. We refrigerate ourselves in summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake rake up every leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish and fowl in supermarkets, we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.[1]

How true; we have lost our awe at God’s creation. When did we lose our awe for nature and God’s creation? Why do we no longer find rest watching the sun go down or rise? Why don’t we rest in a meadow full of wild flowers, and marvel at God’s handiwork? My ideal day would be a pasture, with horses, cows, sheep…and a hammock. I would have, close by, the Bible and probably a couple other books, and rest in the meadow. I would watch the butterflies, the dragonflies…whatever creature decided to share the meadow with me.



If you know anything about me, one of my heroes is William Wilberforce, I write about him often. My favorite movie (even above the Lord of the Rings Trilogy) is Amazing Grace. Partly due to Wilberforce and of course my favorite hymn is Amazing Grace. One of my favorite scenes is one of Wilberforce, walking through his property, which is beautiful, some distance from his house. He is marveling at spider’s webs, at berries and …everything. He wonders at the beauty which surrounds him; God’s creation.



He is so awed with God’s creation; he wants nothing else. He plops down on the ground—his butler his confidant, confessing that he would rather sit in the wet grass then do anything else:

Wilberforce: It's God. I have 10,000 engagements of state today but I would prefer to spend the day out here getting a wet arse, studying dandelions and marveling at... bloody spider's webs.

Butler: You found God, sir?

Wilberforce: I think He found me. You have any idea how inconvenient that is? How idiotic it will sound? I have a political career glittering ahead of me, and in my heart I want spider's webs.

I think maybe, we as Christians, have become disconnected with nature, because of the pantheistic and humanistic tendencies of the “green movement”. We are so afraid of being acquainted with the new age worldview of environmentalism, thus throwing the baby out with the bath water. Adam and Eve, before the fall, took care of the animals and tended the garden. They walked with God in the cool of the day. Genesis describes God walking in the Garden. God's creation is meant to give us peace and rest; let us not allow the devil, or the new age, or any strange humanistic worldview, sever us from the peace and tranquility nature is ordained to bring to us.

I am not suggesting everyone buy a farm and move to the country and do nothing all day. I am simply suggesting, we look for ways to enjoy and to rest in God’s creation.We have lost our joy in resting...





He invites us to interrupt our daily routine and rest as if all our work were done, in order that we may enter into the joys of His finished creation and salvation (Gen. 2:2; John 19:30). ”[2]

Rest well…

Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. Romans 1:19-20 Message

In His grace,