My church had an event going on this weekend for our youth group
called Disciple Now. Over the past several years, it has been my
husband's job to film many aspects of the weekend and put together
some videos to share with the youth Saturday night and with the entire
church on Sunday morning. I usually don't see much of him during this
weekend. Sometime during the week, my husband decided to talk to the youth
minister about his part in the weekend. The youth minister is a good
friend and is aware that my family keeps Sabbath. It was heavy on my
husband's heart to keep Sabbath, yet he knew he had to be responsible
for his job. After their discussion, it was worked out where he
didn't have to be at the church until Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Many youth and youth workers have phones that take good videos and
pictures, so they were able to get what they wanted and then email it
to my husband. It made it much simpler, since camera men didn't have
to go around to several places. It put a lot of pressure on my
husband, though, to be able to put together videos to show at the 7:30
p.m. youth service Saturday night. He decided that it would be worth the rush to be able to be at home
with us throughout the Sabbath. He was also very grateful for the
understanding and flexibility of our youth minister. As he was leaving the youth minister's office, my husband got a phone
call from an old boss. It seemed that one of his employees was
resigning and he really needed someone he could trust to take over
some internet accounts. He wondered if my husband would be able to
handle them. This may not seem like such a big deal, but he has been trying to get
his own business going for several years with little real results.
Just in the past six months (the length of time we've been keeping
Sabbath), opportunities have been pouring in. He was very grateful
for this call. And it seemed as though it was confirmation for
deciding to keep the Sabbath. He did spend Sabbath at home and was
able to put the videos together just in time for the youth service. So I am wondering this week about God's blessings as a result of
keeping the Sabbath. Do we receive special blessings when we are
obedient to God's commands? I am very confident about the blessings
of rest and drawing near to God and others on Sabbath, but those are
not the blessings to which I am referring. I mean seeing God's hand
move on your life in ways you haven't seen before. Let me clarify. Sometimes when something good happens, you might say
it is a blessing. And when something bad happens, you might say it is
a curse. Of course, we know in reality that both good and bad things
happen to everyone-that is a part of life in this world. But there
are moments in life when you have to make a deliberate choice to obey
or disobey God. And sometimes you can see immediate consequences,
whether good or bad, when you make that choice. This is what we felt happen this Sabbath for us. I would love to hear
your stories and thoughts on this topic! Until next week,
Lisa G.
called Disciple Now. Over the past several years, it has been my
husband's job to film many aspects of the weekend and put together
some videos to share with the youth Saturday night and with the entire
church on Sunday morning. I usually don't see much of him during this
weekend. Sometime during the week, my husband decided to talk to the youth
minister about his part in the weekend. The youth minister is a good
friend and is aware that my family keeps Sabbath. It was heavy on my
husband's heart to keep Sabbath, yet he knew he had to be responsible
for his job. After their discussion, it was worked out where he
didn't have to be at the church until Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Many youth and youth workers have phones that take good videos and
pictures, so they were able to get what they wanted and then email it
to my husband. It made it much simpler, since camera men didn't have
to go around to several places. It put a lot of pressure on my
husband, though, to be able to put together videos to show at the 7:30
p.m. youth service Saturday night. He decided that it would be worth the rush to be able to be at home
with us throughout the Sabbath. He was also very grateful for the
understanding and flexibility of our youth minister. As he was leaving the youth minister's office, my husband got a phone
call from an old boss. It seemed that one of his employees was
resigning and he really needed someone he could trust to take over
some internet accounts. He wondered if my husband would be able to
handle them. This may not seem like such a big deal, but he has been trying to get
his own business going for several years with little real results.
Just in the past six months (the length of time we've been keeping
Sabbath), opportunities have been pouring in. He was very grateful
for this call. And it seemed as though it was confirmation for
deciding to keep the Sabbath. He did spend Sabbath at home and was
able to put the videos together just in time for the youth service. So I am wondering this week about God's blessings as a result of
keeping the Sabbath. Do we receive special blessings when we are
obedient to God's commands? I am very confident about the blessings
of rest and drawing near to God and others on Sabbath, but those are
not the blessings to which I am referring. I mean seeing God's hand
move on your life in ways you haven't seen before. Let me clarify. Sometimes when something good happens, you might say
it is a blessing. And when something bad happens, you might say it is
a curse. Of course, we know in reality that both good and bad things
happen to everyone-that is a part of life in this world. But there
are moments in life when you have to make a deliberate choice to obey
or disobey God. And sometimes you can see immediate consequences,
whether good or bad, when you make that choice. This is what we felt happen this Sabbath for us. I would love to hear
your stories and thoughts on this topic! Until next week,
Lisa G.
