Curtis Zackery - Soul Rest: Reclaim Your Life. Return to Sabbath.

SOUL REST

RECLAIM YOUR LIFE

RETURN TO SABBATH

CURTIS ZACKERY

Soul Rest: Reclaim Your Life. Return to Sabbath.

Copyright 2018 Curtis Zackery

Kirkdale Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

KirkdalePress.com

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked ( LEB ) are from the Lexham English Bible, copyright 2013 by Lexham Press. Lexham is a registered trademark of Faithlife Corporation.

Print ISBN 9781683590620

Digital ISBN 9781683590637

Kirkdale Editorial: Abigail Stocker, Justin Marr, Lynnea Smoyer, Christy Callahan

Cover Design: Liliya Vetkov

CONTENTS

Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.

THE GIVING TREE

I drove a 2005 Toyota Camry for a lot of years. I wasnt a great driver as a teenager, but Ive gotten significantly better, and I am particularly gifted at parallel parking. I dont know why exactlyI guess my dad was just a very good teacherbut I nailed it every time, the first time. But I really had to think about it each time the opportunity presented itselfpull up next to the car, turn tight, straighten up, back up, pull forward. I was proud of my skills, so I worked at it. Living in Nashville, a city where parallel parking is abundant, I wanted to stand out as a professional in a sea of amateur street parkers.

A few years ago, my Camry called it quits (in a very dramatic dead-in-the-middle-of-the-road kind of way), and it was time to get a new car. I stayed in the Toyota family but went for a new RAV4. Amongst other amazing upgrades, the technology of a car right now versus just after the turn of the century is pretty impressive. Most notable? The backup camera.

I thought I was good at parallel parking (and I was) until I got a backup camera. Now Im flawless. And fearless. And precise. And calm. Just that one added piece of technology took a good skill and made it great.

In my life, I have seen the exact same upgrade happen when I started to observe the Sabbath. I say it to people all the time: Sabbath is one of the most life-altering disciplines Ive experienced in the last few years. Its like the things I could do beforewith some work and worryare now more second nature. Everything is easier. My spiritual sight is clearer. My ability to mask my pain and hide behind technology is nearly impossible. (Which is a good thing.)

Sabbath has absolutely changed my life for the better. Adding that disciplineand it is a disciplinehas made for spiritual growth and genuine rest in a life that was on the fast track to burning it all down. And I was close to it. Too close to burnout. I felt it but I didnt understand it, and naps werent solving it.

Is Sabbath optional? I mean, I guess. I certainly went a long time not observing it on a regular basis. But the scripture is pretty clear and I see it in my body, soul, and spiritwe were built for it. We were always meant to rest. Really rest. Soul rest. And that doesnt just look like a day off from work or sleeping in or ignoring chores for a day. To dig into Sabbath is to shape your life, the people, the calendar, the disciplines, around the idea that obeying God is a marathon, not a sprint, and this marathon has scheduled rest stops that will guarantee you finish in one piece.

To pursue Sabbath is to pursue deeper mental, spiritual, and physical health. To choose rest when the world tells you to medicate in a million other ways. This book will guide you, lead you, are sometimes carry you there. To the place where real soul rest is cultivated and appreciated andif were being honestdeeply, deeply necessary. Cheering you on as you choose to obey Gods best plan for your heart and your health.

Annie F. Downs

Bestselling author of 100 Days to Brave and Looking For Lovely

T o my wife, Monique, this is our story. Thank you for your love, grace, and trust as we rested and learned together. Thank you for the inspiration and sacrifice that led to the completion of this work. To my sons, Noah and Micah, I pray that you are always proud of the words that are written in these pages.

Thank you to Justin Marr, Brannon Ellis, and Kirkdale Press for seeing the vision and providing me the opportunity to write the book that was in my heart. From Liliya Vetkovs thoughtful and intentional cover design to the incredibly engaged individuals that helped to bring this project to release, I have been overcome with gratitude for the Kirkdale team. Abigail Stocker, thank you for entering into the process with me, and being a thoughtful and encouraging editor.

To my family, friends and church community, thank you for your faithful prayer and constant encouragement. I hope you truly know you are a part of commissioning and propelling this message forward.

O n the surface, it probably seems like the last thing you need is a book to remind you of how tired and worn down you feel. And yet, somewhere deep down, you know that you are long overdue for a moment to stop and consider the condition of your heart. There are certainly enough things in this life that cause us to long for a bit of respite. Whether its our kids busy schedules, long hours at work, or the always on nature of our lives on social media, our culture is certainly not one that is restful by default. On top of all the regular day-to-day stresses, we also experience things like an emotional strain connected to financial issues, sickness in our families, or even deep fatigue from the turbulent state of our world. So much of our life requires that we keep pushing, striving, and moving forward in order to advance and never affords us the opportunity to consider the state of our soul.

We tend to think vacations will be enough to get us to the next season, only to start the countdown over again, looking forward to a time when we can possibly fulfill the dream of feeling rested. Even in those rest times, though, often we are really restless and dissatisfied with the way we rest. We want more from our resting. When we finally stop for a minute and consider, we realize that our need for rest goes far deeper than the surface.

What if there was hope that we could find real, true rest? What if we realized that our desire for rest goes back way further than we could imagine? What if God actually designed humanity to live and thrive from a restful place?

Spiritual fatigue is real as well, and, sadly, becoming more and more prevalent. Ministry burnout is increasingly common. With the enormous and unrealistic expectations that ministers and followers of Jesus are living under and placing on themselves in our culture, it only makes it seem like a matter of time before the other shoe drops and they give up. I often encounter people from all walks of life who identify themselves as followers of Jesus who say that they dont know if they can do it anymore. The it, for many, is the ability to keep up with what is believed to be the successful Christian life. Usually, these thoughts are followed up with the confession that they are flat-out tired. What this can manifest is a growing sense of disillusionment with God and the church.