I went to bed last night at 6:30 P.M.
It’s hot and humid, and I haven’t slept well in weeks.
I don’t know how it is with other women, but when I don’t sleep well, I battle anxiety… badly.
And it didn’t seem to matter what benign thought came into my head; it became something to worry about.
I lay in bed trying to distract myself with one of my favorite Christian fiction authors, and that didn’t help.
Nothing helped.
So, despite being exhausted out of my mind, I tossed and turned…
Finally, it occurred to me that I hadn’t given any of my thoughts to the Lord.
So, as I lay there, trying to sleep, I cried out to the Lord, laying before Him every silly worry in my mind.
And it was then that He reminded me of one of the very first Substack articles I wrote.
The portion below is from February 27, titled “Jesus is our Sabbath Rest”, about the Hebrew and Greek words for Sabbath.
It [Shabat] reads: שָׁבַת
Hebrew reads from right to left, and the first letter is שָׁ - Shin commonly known as a symbol for God’s name, and appears in Shaddai.
God’s name is in the Hebrew word rest.
I wanted to find an equivalent for the Hebrew word Shabbat in the New Testament, and found it in Matthew 11:28. The meaning of the word in this verse is pretty much identical to Shabbat.
Matthew 11:28 - “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
This is the first time the Greek word Anapauo shows up in the New Testament (and has the exact same meaning as Shabbat in Hebrew).
ἀναπαύω
The first letter is Alpha, and the last letter is Omega.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
God’s name is in the Greek word for rest.
You see, as I’ve worked my way through the Old Testament, studying each verse that has the Hebrew word שָׁבַת, I’ve missed out on a very important detail.
When the children of Israel failed to keep the Sabbath holy
When they thought they could gather manna on the Sabbath
When they failed to let the land rest on the Sabbath year
They were not just neglecting the law of God; they were rejecting God Himself, who placed His name within the very word Shabbat.
And this is where I felt the need to repent.
You see, I’m so prone to pushing myself beyond what I am able to handle.
Too often, I look to my own abilities for provision, stability, and security.
In Psalm 127, David said, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.”
It wasn’t that I was working on Sundays.
I have a strict policy about that.
It wasn’t even that I was working abnormally long hours.
I have been careful to make sure that I don’t work past a certain time of day.
The problem was I wasn’t giving my heart and soul the Shabbat that it needed so that I could do what the Lord has called me to do from a heart and soul that is well-rested in the Lord.
I feel I have to emphasize once again - mostly to myself - that Sabbath isn’t a day.
Sabbath is a state of heart.
Sabbath is a heart attitude before the Lord.
Sabbath is knowing deeply that God is our resource and provision.
Sabbath is trusting in God completely.
As I lay there meditating once again on the glory of God’s name being written in the Sabbath…
A peace gently spread over me, and I fell into the deepest of sleep.
And woke up more refreshed than I’ve been in weeks.
You see, dear sister — there is a connection between Sabbath and our identity in Christ.
He is our peace.
He is our rest.
He is our provision
And He is our Father - and we bear His name.
We are His daughters.
And if our inheritance is in Him, that Sabbath rest should define our very existence and how we live.
We don’t drive ourselves and labor ourselves to exhaustion like the world does, because we have a greater source of provision.
Jehovah Jireh.
We don’t try to escape our anxiety and worry through distractions as the world does because we have a greater source of peace.
Jehovah Rafa.
We don’t have to try to hide our pain, hurt, and rejection as the world does, because we have a great healer.
Jehovah Rophe.
These are His names.
This is His identity.
And He is our Father.
Our good, good Father.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to spend time exploring exactly what it means to live from who God says we are instead of who we’ve been trying to become.
If you’ve been following along, you already know this has become one of the deepest lessons God has been teaching me lately.
That’s why I’m so excited about our upcoming Identity in Christ Journey.
Together we’ll spend time renewing our minds with Scripture and replacing old labels with God’s truth about who we are in Christ.
The Journey begins July 20, and until then, you can receive 30% off a paid subscription, which gives you access to the complete study, printable journal, video teachings, and the Resource Library.
If you’ve been longing to stop striving and start living from your identity in Christ, I’d love for you to join us.
I truly believe it has the potential to change the way you read Scripture—and the way you see yourself—forever.
Thank you, this was a great message and the timing is right for me.