God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God

Sabbath, as the foundation of a rule of life, gives you permission to stop from your busyness and simply be.

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”9

Sabbath requires surrender. If we only stop when we are finished [our emails, our projects], we will never stop — because our work is never completely done.”

In Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law multiplied the rules and regulations around the Sabbath so that it was no longer a joy, but a burden; no longer a delight, but a duty. Jesus responded to this dreary view by saying, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.”

what is most important is having a relationship with him, as opposed to getting through a spiritual task. It was hard for me at first to realize that quiet time in conversation with God was more fruitful than hurriedly attempting to get through a certain amount of Scripture…. God has taught me that it is all about the relationship, not about what I

Every evening I try to set aside five or ten minutes to pray what Saint Ignatius called the prayer of Examen. After putting our toddler down, I lie on the futon next to his bed, quiet my thoughts, and hit the “play” button on the video of my day. I think about the people with whom I’ve spent time, the conversations I’ve had, the places I’ve been, a

Creating a rule in response to the movement of the Spirit may also involve simplifying certain practices so that our relationship with Jesus is served.

In response, it’s helpful to remember that if these practices make our lives feel heavier or become just one more thing to do, in all likelihood we have established a self-constructed rule rather than a Spirit-created one. Jesus, after all, tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He teaches us that under his “yoke” — that is, by fol

Sabbath enables us to define ourselves less by our achievements and more as beloved daughters and sons of God. As we become more aware of how much we are cherished as children of God, we grow in our trust of God.