Sabbath for the Watching Warrior at Home

Once I heard mothers at home referred to as “the watchmen in battle; remaining at the fortress, hopefully awake, whether the soldiers are at home or away.” The quiver is full and strapped tightly on her back until another comes to take her load for a short while. The hours keep turning and the need to defend and prepare everyone within her walls is ever before her, no matter the time or the name of the day. The light of the Sabbath dawns and dims and the first day begins...again. Was there rest?

More than once I’ve heard stay at home moms say that Sabbath for them is a joke and have felt that heaviness myself. There is so much work to be done every day in parenting children who need everything from us and in creating and holding the space in which they can thrive. It feels like there isn’t any room for us. Watching warriors at home, the Lord did not forget you when He modeled a Sabbath rest for His children and was refreshed. He was aware that — inHis likeness — your all day every day would be spent with wonderful, challenging, occasionally repentant sinners who need constant connection, direction, and correction in love. He knew that your life at home on the Sabbath could easily look like life at home on any other day. How can it be holy, set apart, and powerfully restorative?

God gave the Sabbath as the first of a handful of gifts intended to reveal Himself to His people and to solidify our foundation in Him. He called for a holy convocation — a gathering. This tells us that a key to Sabbath rest is connection. Connecting to Him, to our families, and to the brotherhood of the saints is holy. We truly benefit from being intentional in each of these areas, whatever that looks like. On this day I am thankful to not be parenting alone, but in connection.

The Sabbath is the day my family must fight the hardest for lighthearted spirits and joy. We have a lot of young children and this is often the day with the least amount of structure, which is something we thrive on. One anchor that our family has benefited from is marking the beginning of the resting period. We would also benefit from marking the end, but we haven’t gotten that far. However you choose to mark the bookends of your Sabbath together, let those marks remind you of the holiness and safety of being part of Jesus’ family. Father, bless the making of these marks for the makers of the home, whether it be a bell, a song, or a prayer of blessing over each person at the table. May it shape every person’s perspective of time spent together, whether they are big or small.

Remember: A key to Sabbath rest is connection. On the days that I approach Sabbath with a list of what I want for my body, my soul, and my spirit, I usually end up disappointed and grumpy. The baby cries, a sibling argument breaks out, someone somewhere in the house needs help with something while I am trying to do my thing. I am often tempted to think that the Sabbath is about everyone in the house keeping to themselves and me receiving whatever I think I need. Selfishness can easily steal rest from myself and everyone around me. Then the Spirit corrects me: we together are his people. When I let the Lord minister to me through connecting with the family that I am almost always with, I end up far more satisfied. While I would love to spend hours on my own art form or journaling quietly by myself, the day is in fact more restful when I seize 30 minutes here or there for myself and also spend significant time playing with my children and husband. The neglected things in our relationships get restored here. Our foundations are strengthened. When that happens, the following day is lighter. As it turns out, even on the Sabbath, it is better to give than to receive. Jesus, magnify every one of these connecting moments to my own soul so that we are all powerfully restored.

In order for those moments to be plentiful, we have to prepare. Consider how this day will be different. Know what your family would benefit from and get ready. If you need to not cook and have minimal clean up for your resting day, maybe you’ve batch cooked during the week, ordered in for the evening, eaten on paper plates, or prepped breakfast the day before. If your family is packed full of young children, things like cleaning up ahead of time might take a little longer. Maybe you need two days of preparation so that you can tie up your loose ends without stressing your kids out. Maybe a feast looks like a dressy table or maybe it looks like a picnic on the floor. Maybe on that day the family needs to take a few hours at a park to get away from your usual space, connect with the fruit of the other six days of creation, and remember that you’re a living part of it. Maybe your snacks and laundry need to be ready. Maybe in order to feel how restful a weekly feast is in America, you need to commit to a weekly fast the day before.

I don’t know about you, but in our family it does not always happen that we get in feasting, blessing, playing, gathering with the brotherhood, sleeping, worshipping, silence, connecting with our spouse, hobbies, nature, etc. every week. Just as in the other six days, we are limited by 24 hours. The Sabbath day closes before I know it and is gone in the blink of an eye. Even in trying to uphold a day of rest for the sake of my own good, I need Jesus to uphold me and give me rest from his own hand and his own heart. The Lord told Moses to “Above all... keep my Sabbaths... that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you” (Ex. 31:12-13). Watching warriors, we are sanctified in trusting that He will complete the work that we toil from day in and day out. We are sanctified in trusting that the rest we get in one day will strengthen us from the six days behind and for the six days ahead. We are loved by a God that pulls through on his every promise. We are loved by a God who redeems us from the hardest of weeks and restores us with a daily confidence in Jesus coming again and our rest will be full.

I’m praying 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 over us. God, sanctify us as we turn to you and make us worthy of being called to your family. Meet every resolve for good and everything we do by faith with your power. I want the name of Jesus to be glorified — strong and beautiful — in us and us to be glorified — strong and beautiful — in Him, according to your grace.

Submitted by: Michelle Schneider