America has felt like being on a shaky boat these days.

You don’t get to choose who’s on the boat but these are your neighbors. People were once content with their side of the ship because it sailed peaceably.

But now the storm of 2020 is here.

With the global pandemic, social unrest, natural disasters, political wars, the boat is rocking in all sorts of directions. With every crisis, every emergency, every disaster, the noise of the ship begins to rise as people wonder why their side of the ship is being washed by the waters.

It is the anxiety of the fate of the boat which has interrupted our lives. People tune in needlessly and apprehensively wondering if the boat has plugged its holes, if the engine has been put out, and wondering if a new or old captain can steer it aright.

Over time, the anxiety is becoming too much. Being on the sea for too long has started to claw at our hearts. Stable ground seems far and out of reach.

Soon, instead of living idyllically, all aboard are now shouting at each other. Even though their anger is real, deep down inside, no one realizes that they are shouting not because they think the other person is necessarily wrong, but because they are sinking.

The only truth that matters, it seems like in this boat is the truth of our own tumult and pain. Yet for the people of God, there exists a reality and a truth we are called to instead.

It is the shores of Sabbath.

Sabbath is the day of rest. It is when we cast away an anxious world to retreat with a faithful God.

In an anxious world, rest is not passable nor allowed. A godless world cannot rest because someone must man the boat. Someone must stay watch. Someone must be alert and awake. It cannot rest, because everything is in our control.

However, as I plan to write in my book, one of the tenets of Sabbath is that Sabbath recognizes a God who works in the shadows of our world.

And the people of God practice Sabbath because we see by a different light.

One is able to rest because beyond the boat that we live, there is one who controls the seas. One is able to rest because the one who controls the seas ultimately controls the fates of those on the boat.

For the people of God who live on the shaky boat–come away and rest.

Are you practicing Sabbath this season? Or are you caught up in the storms of the boat still?

Write what you’re doing this season in the comments below!