Rhythms of Rest by Shelly Miller

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Product Details
Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World

For those who are feeling overwhelmed and burdened by life, who feel like they go 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and never have a break, this book is for you. Shelly is big on finding a rhythm of rest that is a part of your life. It doesn't matter how busy you are, take a day or start with an hour or two, plan it into your schedule, prep your meals in advance and take the time to rest.

Rest can be different for all of us. For some crafting is rest, for others it's a drudgery. For some cooking is restful, for some it's a necessary evil. For some reading would be rejuvenating, for other it would be a job to plod through. Take the time, be still, let your mind rest and just soak up Sabbath and God and what He is telling you.

I'm not sure if I agree with everything she shared in the book, but I find the theme and the various components of it so necessary. Our bodies need rejuvenation, our souls need rest and worship and if we don't take the time to make those things a regular part of our lives, too often illness will make us take a forced Sabbath and that can be doubly hard. This is not to say that if you rest, you will never be sick.

So when I read books like this, I have started to put sticky notes throughout the book at places I want to quote in my book review. The problem is now to find the sticky note and then to remember what stood out to me at the time. I need to decide that reusing the sticky note (when I literally have a drawer full of them) is unnecessary and so I should write my thoughts out on the sticky note so I have them. Anyway, let's see which ones I can find.

"When we abide in Jesus, all our questions about how we Sabbath are answered in who we worship....What begins as a sacrifice of time becomes a willing surrender the more we choose it. We long for rest, and the Lord of the Sabbath longs for communion with us.

"God is less interested in how we spend our Sabbath than that he has our undivided attention."

"Sabbath is a time to transition from human doings to human beings." Matthew Sleeth, 24/6

"I'm learning that when we say yes to God and let go of the need for certainty, that doesn't mean he'll grant our every wish or provide rescue with instant security. God cares more about our transformation into his image than immediate relief."  Ouch, this is not a popular thought in today's culture. We want to be like Christ, yes we do, but we want it right now without anything bad happening to us, thank you very much.

I did enjoy this book. I think for me, Sunday has always been a day of rest for me, so the concept was not new, but the taking time to be quiet and think and reflect is definitely something I could do better on. Sunday is often the day that I spend the least time in quiet and reflection. And I don't think both have to be done on the same day either.

This book was given to me by Bethany House Publishers. There is no requirement that I write a positive review.

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