Resting in God | Horizons Fellow Mia Forsyth '23

Sundays are my favorite day of the week by far. And they always have been. I grew up a preacher’s kid, so we’d spend all of Sunday morning at the church. My siblings and I would eat the nursery’s goldfish, run down the halls, attend Sunday school, whisper too loudly down the pew, and fall asleep in the van on the way home. My mom would make a big Sunday lunch, and then the whole family would collapse on the couch for a movie or a sports game. It was a family day, a restful day, a day when I felt close to people and close to the Lord.

When I got to college, one of the things I missed most was Sundays with my family. The rest of the week I was busy with classes, assignments, attempting to make friends, and trepidatiously exploring dining hall food. But when Sunday came around, I’d put down my work for the day like my parents had encouraged me to do for years, and then… I’d just sit there. Everyone else was busy with the Sunday Scaries and trying to get caught up with work before the next week began. What did it mean to Sabbath here? To rest and to be with people and the Lord in an environment so grounded in independence and doing your own thing? Are we even still expected to follow the command to Sabbath now that we aren’t bound to Old Testament law? 

With these questions spinning in my head, I did what any stereotypical UVA student would do. I turned Sundays to my catch-all days: grocery shopping, doing laundry, cleaning… anything and everything but homework. Sabbaths weren’t restful; they were rushed and full of legalism. It wasn’t until the start of this year that the cracks began to show. My body and soul couldn’t keep up with the pace of my schedule. I went into each new week feeling the accumulating weight of my busyness, anxious to get another week closer to the next break. I’d always known my pace wasn’t sustainable, but I kind of figured I could hold it together for the four years of college. I was beginning to realize my limitedness. 

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said his famous words about rest: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Our God rested on the seventh day when all his work was done, and he commanded his people to do the same as a way of remembering his goodness and power. What if my Sabbaths were days of putting it all down? Of setting aside some time as holy to the Lord, to worship with his people, to spend time in his creation, to seek his face unhurried by the pressures of the week? What if I did things that brought me joy, like spending intentional time with friends and eating good food? What if I delighted in God’s goodness to me and trusted in him as my Shepherd? 

We weren’t made to do all the things all the time. We are but dust in the light of eternity, here one day and gone the next. Our limitedness is a blessing. The God we serve invites us to join him in his work in this world! But he also invites us to join him in rest, putting our work down to remember that he is the sovereign Creator Lord who made all things and holds all things together. What a joy it is to work, rest, love, and be loved by this God!