I heard a prophet say, for the people of God, the Pandemic, “Was a forced Sabbath.” In Biblical text the Sabbath was consequential (Numbers 15:32-36), and the Lord took it seriously. The word means the complete cessation of activity. In our present spiritual condition, it is learning to trust God and not re-engineer purpose because things do not look like they are happening the way we want them to or in the timeframe we expected. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty."
As harsh as this depiction is, it was more about stopping anarchy. If you isolate an incident the less likely it is to spread. I praise God that our rest is now in Christ, Jesus told the religious leaders of the day, who accused Him of blasphemy because He was healing on the Sabbath, “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:7-28).
One doctor wrote a book some years ago in which he talked about the need for us in the Western World to have margins in our life. He said, "The problem today is that we are all running close to the edge. Everyone is pushed so close to the edge financially, emotionally, and spiritually that if we have a crisis or something unexpected occurs, we have no reserve tanks from which to draw.“
Learning to rest in Christ is an art and a discipline, it does not come naturally. It is more than inactivity; it is deep introspection. I have been combing through the years of my life and asking the Holy Spirit what is still lingering that could stop my forward progress and give the enemy legal right to blindside me? Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart or the weak. It is an enduring commitment that is costly. The closer you get to the Most Holy Place the more you begin to realize that you are not your own and the blood that drips perpetually from the cross is a reminder that you have been bought with a price.
I want to propose a question? When was the last time you were alone? I mean really alone. Where your inner thoughts, which have been muted by busyness, now sound like the clamor of a football stadium and where the Holy Spirits pleas are all but silent. If you can't remember, it is time to slow down and find a place of complete solitude so you can hear what you have been drowning out. It is time to confront the demons of your past, deal with the loneliness, refuel for the next season, and hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.