Stress Relief
By Stephen Terry
While our study
lesson this week is all about stress and how to relieve it, I found it perplexing
that the lesson said nothing about the stress reliever God originally gave us
all. Who would know man better than his Creator? He knew we could
not run on full throttle all the time without eventually running empty.
To keep us healthy and strong, He created a special day each week to
recharge the batteries and reduce our stress levels to nil. The Bible calls
that day the Sabbath. And God set the example by resting himself on that day.
Then to infuse the day with even more power for healing and restoration,
He blessed it.
When we buy a car or truck, it comes with an
owner's manual. Often it gets tossed in the glove box and is forgotten.
But if we fail to do the maintenance the manual recommends, we find that
soon, the vehicle is no longer operating properly. We may even find
ourselves without transportation when we have to get to an important
appointment. But if we read the manual and are careful to follow the
recommended maintenance procedures, the vehicle will provide us with hundreds
of thousands of miles of reliable service. So it is with the Bible.
The Bible not only speaks of man's creation
(Genesis 1 & 2), it also speaks of how we are to be maintained. One
day in seven, we are to rest and be restored. This is so important that
even Jesus observed the Sabbath rest. It was His custom. (Luke 4:16) We will
even be observing the Sabbath rest in heaven. (Isaiah 66:22-23) But
mankind forgot about the Sabbath and needed reminding. When Moses brought
the Ten Commandments down from
The Sabbath rest was
so important that Jesus even healed on the Sabbath to give those who were sick
and hurting a chance to enjoy the fullness of its restorative blessing.
When challenged by the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath, He pointed
out that the Sabbath was intended to be a blessing for mankind rather than for
mankind to blindly observe the Sabbath without purpose. He said, "The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
Let me paraphrase this in more modern terms.
Automobiles are not made to sell oil, oil is
sold to help automobiles run well. We have forgotten today that the
Sabbath was made to help us "run well." With businesses
operating seven days a week, and mounting pressure to own and maintain so many
material things, we find ourselves on a continuous treadmill, running day after
day without relief. No wonder a leading complaint is the amount of stress
everyone must deal with. Mankind was never meant to be a machine.
We were never meant to be switched on and left to run continuously
without downtime. When we do, we suffer physical and mental ailments.
Like pebbles in a pond, these ailments send out ripples that affect all around
us.
We want too much, so we work too much, and we
break down like a car that has been driven hard and long. Like an
exhausted horse, we are "put away wet" and receive not enough rest
before the next run. God's plan is a better way. But do Christians do any
better at following that plan? Maybe not.
They often take one day in seven for worship,
and then fill it with so many activities that they need another day of rest to
recover from it all. Sabbath becomes a round of morning Bible Study,
followed by a preaching service, then a potluck, next an afternoon meeting and
maybe an evening meeting as well. If the church member does not
participate in all, they are reminded of the need to join in by well-meaning
leadership. Where is the rest? It isn't there.
Sabbath should truly be a time of rest.
It should be down time, when families can be together in intimate relationship
with one another and God. No organization, secular or religious, should
seek to own the right to that time. Joshua said "as for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 Sometimes
the only service the Lord asks is for us to rest.
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