Rest is Found: Entering in to the Freedom We Find for Ourselves and Others (Part 1)

Welcome back to Season 4 of the Returning to Joy Podcast! This week we continue in our new series, Sabbath Stories: Embracing Rest in a Restless World. Each episode we will unpack the sacred call to rest and renewal, as well as a practical practice to help you integrate rest rhythms into your life. 

This episode we'll dive into the kind of rest that we find in Jesus, and the freedom in it that He calls us and those around us to enter into. 

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Transcript

9:51:31

Welcome to the return to joy podcast. I'm your host, Gabrielle Michel Leonard. Here we're leading people to cultivate joy through storytelling. We hope listening will reveal pathways to unlocking the healing power of connection so that you can see your relationships and the world around you transformed from fractured into flourishing. Welcome back Beloved's I am, you know, you know the drill excited about this episode. And if I had to give it a name, I would. Name is episode rest is found. As you know, we are in a series right now that I've called like Sabbath stories embracing rest in a restless world. And in the last podcast episode I talked about rest being a form of resistance. And in that first episode, we talked about that word rest that first shows up in Genesis chapters one and two, when talks about God resting on the seventh day, after creation, and that word rest, it's the Sabbath rest. And we talked about the primary connotation for that word is to cease to abstain to desist from or to terminate. And we were holding that just opposed to our like primary connotation that we typically may have when we think about rest, thinking about rest in terms of like to be inactive, which that connotation is there in that word, even in the scriptures, but that's only secondary, right? Primarily, there is this, like, ceasing from something when thinking about that word rest. So we're going to continue and unpacking rest, and what does that look like for us in practice? What does that look like in terms of the biblical narrative, and really, truly the the restoration that that provides for our souls, as individuals as the body, the collective body of Christ, and the future hope that we're there, we're awaiting, but also in terms of practically, how do we rest? And what's the purpose of that was the value of it, the benefits of it, but we're going to jump right in this I want to preface though with saying that this conversation is going to be two parts, because I had a really hard time narrowing it down. We're going to be camped out in Psalms 84. And there's just there's so there's so much, there's so much. And if you've if you've ever spent time like teaching from the Word, and doing deep study around it beforehand, you know that when you get started, and you're and you're pulling back layers, and you're seeing things, the more you become aware of how much you don't know, right, like, preparing to record this episode, I became more aware of how much I didn't know, that was not defeating. It was encouraging. It was exciting. I got so stirred, convicted, encouraged, and my confidence did grow to be able to share and talk with you. But I also became aware of like, Man, I'm just scratching the surface. So I need you to know, we're just going to scratch the surface. But I want this, this is going to be in two parts and still be surface. But we're going to but these two parts are going to be talking about the fact that rest is found. It's like this journey of finding rest and what I mean by that, which I'm super excited about. But let's get started diving in. As you know, if you listen to the last episode, you know that in the month of July, I went on this month long practice of rest, I took a sabbatical, and I didn't work and month of July, I was out of the country and ended up being in four different countries during that time. And, and I'm sure at some point in this series, I'll probably touch on aspects of that journey in those different places. But right now we are landing right back again in Wales. And when I was in Wales, as you know, I was I spent some time at this Christian prayer and retreat center that has taken a lot of inspiration from Celtic Christian practices and monastic practices are really a part of the rhythms and how they do things there and the simplicity of it all. And in this prayer room, I found myself one of the one of the evenings or at this like retreat center, I should say, one of the evenings, I just decided, you know, I think I wanted to go to this like little chapel space. This same chapel space that I talked about, really hearing phone like I was hearing God speak and reminding me I enjoy you, right? This is earlier on in the journey, maybe day two or so. me being in this at this retreat center and I said, I'm going to go there for the evening and I'm going to spend my time in worship, maybe prayer, maybe looking at scripture, my thought is that I get it, I would be alone. That didn't actually happen. I wasn't alone. When I got into that, that chapel, I recognized that there were a couple other people inside, still went inside. And it ended up being four other people that were present. One was an English woman who spoke both German and English. And then three people from from Germany, who, who own who didn't speak English very well. And they were worshiping and the language I didn't know. But I stayed in there in that prayer room with them, because there was still this sense of commonality and a shared bond. And it was beautiful. We worship together. And I was strengthened and encouraged in it, but I still wanted to get some time with the Lord in private and secret as well. And as they're leaving, as we as they wrap up their time together. They're walking out of this chapel like prayer room, and it as they walk out, you know, you step into this kind of outside path before you get to the living quarters. And as they're walking out, they they call my attention, they said Cabrio Cabrio Look, do you see do you see, and I picked my head, just outside of the door seal. And I look above and I noticed that they are these swallows there. There's this bird's nest literally perched right on top of the of the door seal of this this door that leads into this chapel space, this halfway underground chapel space, and their swallows. There's like at least four babies or three babies in this mama swallow with her with her baby birds nesting there. And they're huddled up, it's the you know, the evening at signal, the evenings coming in, they're huddled up there, and we were, it was beautiful is cute, too. Right. And so stirred it felt significant. But I didn't necessarily put two and two together immediately. And then one of the ladies said, because you know, like, do you remember? Do you remember? And I'm going like, what? What are you talking about? She doesn't remember like, in the Psalms, and then immediately comes to mind. I'm going like, oh my gosh, yes, this is somewhere this somewhere. I've seen this before. And then she pulls up Psalms 84. For me, and we look at verse three together when it says in Psalms 84. It says, Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, oh Lord of hosts, it gave me chills. And then another lady came later on during this time with me being there, I find out that they had recently returned sparrows tend to fly back to the same nest season after season. And I had arrived at this retreat, prayer and retreat center. During a time that the sparrows were coming back, they were returning. I was so encouraged by this, and just like a marveling at the fact that while I'm here, at this exact time where these sparrows have returned, and they have found their home, their nesting place, at the altar of the Lord, like, as close as they could get to the presence of God as close as they could get to this place of worship. They're the sparrows, where that's very much so reflected in Scripture. And so they walk out and I just decide like, Okay, well, I'm gonna start there. I'm in this, this prayer room, and I don't know where to begin in this journey. So I will just begin by opening up Psalms 84, and how we'll read it and see where the Lord takes me see where the Spirit takes me. So I began reading Psalms 84. And if you grew up growing up around Christian folk, you Psalms 84 If you read it all the way through, we're actually going to read just the first six verses because like I said, this is going to be broken up into two parts. And really, the last eight verses, Oh, Pablo, will tackle in the next episode. But in the latter portion of this song, you'll you'll find a familiar line where the psalm is says, better is one day in your courts than 1000 You know, places elsewhere. And so it's that line is very popular. But there is a lot to be discovered and reading and understanding the context of this song, and reading it in edit at a at a deeper level. But like I said, still shallow the Word of God is just too good. And this this journey that we're on as as pilgrims, witnesses to the goodness of God is yeah, it can't be contained. But um, anyways, so as I read through psalms 84 And as I'm reading it, I'm taking it line by line at some points I'm, I'm stopping in the middle of it to sing a line at some points. I'm like, repeating it over and over at some points. I'm like, maybe I'm I'm crying out to the Lord in prayer. I'm interceding, I'm crying whatever like I'm just engaging with this fully. It takes my mind back to this place of remembrance because I'm thinking about the the nature of I remember growing up there was on if you remember out of Eden, that Christian worship group, but I they had this song better is one day and it's based off of Psalms 84 And I remember if this reading the psalm again took me to this place of remembrance of all like this child like Gabrielle this younger Gabrielle that didn't even know what she was wanting or longing for. And and I was craving to be with God I was craving to be free and didn't even understand the freedom she I was longing for right at the time, but it was just good. So I want to read this all the way through some of these verses one through six and then we'll unpack it okay and give some context. It says how lovely is your dwelling place? Oh Lord of hosts, my soul longs. Yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young had your alters, oh Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praises. C'est la vie. Blessed are those whose strength is in you in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it with pools. How lovely is that first verse, how lovely is your dwelling place, oh Lord of Hosts. This, the writer of the song the writers of the of the psalm era are craving Psalms is craving to be in the presence of God craving to be in the dwelling place where God dwells. But why? What's going on here? What's happening? This Psalm is a pilgrimage song. It's like It's like the Psalms of Ascent, which were psalms that were used as a form of praise. They were the things that would have been sung and recited and called out to one another. As the as Israel was journeying from wherever they were maybe up north in Galilee, as they were journeying and traveling back to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. in Israel's history, there's at least three pilgrim festivals that required that Israel would return to Jerusalem to celebrate and to worship God. And these psalms, these Psalms of Ascent of these pilgrims songs would be what they would sing during their journey. See, they often reminded the people, they often reminded Israel about the goodness of God, his deliverance, his faithfulness, His provision, as Providence they were not where they wanted to be. They were journeying from where they were, to where they wanted to be. And these psalms were the were the background was the music that fueled them. We all know about, like having that good. That right playlist going when you're going on a journey for us, we may not necessarily know the gruesome have the gruesome, gruesome practice of walking for three, five days to get to the get to a place, but we know that feeling of like, alright, if I'm gonna drive from Texas, to Louisiana, or to Atlanta, we know like, all right, like this journey is gonna have some good music, what's going to be the playlist that we're playing that's fueling this drive? These Psalms of Ascent was the playlist, it was what was fueling them on this journey. This ascent that was happening, that Israel was required to do was, was physical, but it was also spiritual. It was individual and it was also a corporate practice. And they needed these songs because mainly to keep them encouraged to build anticipation this is we're going to get into this further in the next episode. But this journey was physically laboris taxing, gruesome, hard. This is not an easy journey they were doing. It didn't matter where you are coming from up north, near around Galilee if you were journeying from that area to get back to the temple to get back to Jerusalem, to worship the Lord, at a minimum, you're going to be spending three to five days on this journey, camping along the way with other people, no matter what path you took. This was a long laboris process, painful process, that it that involved. They're involved all of them. And it was I'm pretty sure taxing and pushed them to the limit at points. And if they were going to keep going with this journey, they're going to stay on the path, stay the course and stay with the people to journey back to this place of worship. They were going to need something words that would that would stir their soul that would it build anticipation for being back in the place where God dwelled something to help them keep their resolve about their future hope. It is coming. We are headed that way. Right now we're experiencing this but one day, and soon we'll be in the presence of God. Why I think about this, I'd say there's three visions or things the psalmist envisioned. And like I said, we're scratching the surface here. So I'm just narrowing it down to three in this moment. But there's at least three things that I'd say were being envisioned by the psalmists, in Psalms 84, but also in these other Psalms of Ascent. The Psalmist is envisioning the resting place of God. You see, like in Psalms 132, the place where God dwells is described as this resting place, the place where like, yes, God's presence is going to camp here, because presence is going to remain here. God's gonna rest here, God is here. And the people of Israel wanted to be where God was resting regard would reside. So they envisioned this future place that they were journeying towards to be a place where God rested. Second thing they envisioned was, was this to be it, it does not to this messianic kingdom, see this resting place of God, the the place where the temple was Mount Sinai, the city of David was also pointing to this future Messianic Kingdom, where there was no more suffering and oppression and injustice, no more idols, no more worship of foreign gods, there was the right and true living God and King on the throne, because the Messiah was on the throne, then there'd be liberty, protection, provision, freedom, for all that were part of that kingdom. So there's this future hope of a messianic kingdom that's being pointed to and many of the songs Psalms of Ascent, as well as this, this site, this envisioning of like, Ah, here's the resting place of God. And then thirdly, there's this Envisionment of communal worship and the joy that happens as you were in the presence of God and you were a part of this kingdom that has no no longer has this suffering and pain and oppression, but people are liberated. And you also have this communal fellowship of worship, we are worshipping the same God, the One True God, here, and I'm hearing worship of the Lord, on my lips, but also on my neighbor's lips as well. We are bonded and unified in faith, in the same hope, in the same joy. These are all things that we're aspiring and moving them forward and anchoring them. Now, when in Psalms 84, verses to which I would say, verse two, really begins to unpack this, like soul crushing thirst, that this is not just like a man, I can't wait for this place I'm envisioning in terms of like the worship in terms of the the kingdom, because it would be good, but it's also there's some lament, I think one of the things I love about the Psalms I love about this Psalm and Psalms 42 and 43 and dishsoap. Just it's everywhere, is you find this dance in Scripture, of despair and hope, joy and sorrow, where things become those, those elements are more entwined and entangled than we realize they are. See we compartmentalize it and separated it in and hope can't be entwined with sorrow and joy can't be also connected to despair. But, but actually here in verse two, we see that they're much more entangled than maybe we may like the psalmist says, My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh, sing for joy to the living God. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord, I just want that. Just focus there with me for a second. That word longs, even that feints word I wish I could have time, maybe next week, like unpacking that even more like that word is a deep and intense sorrow. It's an agony that's being described there, almost even to the point of death. The Psalm is in talking about this desire to be with God, this desire to be back in his courts, where the presence of God is, is can is connected to this deep pain, this weeping this lament. It's not all joy here, it's not all singing in praise in terms of like the way that we phrase or the way that we think about it. There is pain, there is an agony here. This is a deep heart cry of like, God, I just gotta get to you. I got to get to you. And then when I was in that prayer room, I so felt that something before even doing the deep study here illuminated for me, because I'm sitting there, and I'm reading over this, this passage, and I'm looking at that word, my soul longs, let Yes, faints. And I'm beginning to realize, oh, my gosh, God, this is describing me in this moment. I see myself here in this narrative. See, I thought that like, I thought something was wrong with me. Because before I got here, I was experiencing this intense sorrow. Something wasn't right. I'm like, am I am I like, is it is it? Is it just depression? Is it sadness, like, nothing seemed to quite define what was going on inside of me. But I, I was agonizing. And I couldn't find a framework. It wasn't clear the framework for what does this mean? I didn't know how to frame it. I didn't know how to like, make meaning out of it. And so in some ways, I was like something wrong, what's wrong with me? Right, we know like, there are many times when like, we we need, we need therapy we need. We need community we need like to, to build ourselves up in truth. We need to grieve, we need to weep. But it was so helpful for me in this moment when I read this in that prayer room. Like there was this contextualization that was happening, and I was beginning to realize, oh, my gosh, it is so it is so biblical. It is so a part of the narrative of walking, in hopes of Jesus of walking in hopes of God's coming Kingdom. It is normal, to faint, it is normal to long, even to the point of this sense of sorrow. We don't remain there in a journey. But often I think, we rush out of it too quickly. But it is, it is normal to be like, This is what we're seeing in our world, the pain, the injustices, the disparity, the oppression, the suffering, the violence, this is not the Lord's way, it wasn't supposed to be this way. And we too, are exci we too are not in our, in our permanent home. This is this is not what is what we will forever be we are journeying from where we are to where we longed to be, we are awaiting the kingdom of God. And and we are participating in establishing his kingdom and along the way we realize like this is not okay, this is not the way it's supposed to be. And there's this there's sometimes this fainting of the soul, there's this longing. I want to point out something that I forgot to point out earlier. That's an important note note that is very prevalent in the Psalms as you read them and a lot of times when we think about the Psalms, you'll know for sure like these are very much so Conversations with God right? The Psalms are are teaching us a method of prayer how to pray and pray in a way that is fully embody that brings the whole self and the and the whole experience of being human in the community before God and engaging with God. So there is a conversation with God They have that is happening in the Psalms, and for sure that is happening in this one. But there's also a, a conversation that's happening with the community. There's like an echoing, if you will. Because remember what we said about this the Psalms of Ascent that would be sung. As they're doing this journey, this pilgrim journey back to worship God in Jerusalem, you would be hearing these words on the lips of your neighbor, there was a back and forth and maybe this person saying this and call and response and, and this was a collective conversation, a collective witnessing to one another encouragement of one another. So this is a, this is a communal conversation. It is a conversation with God. And it's also a conversation with the self, or the soul. As even in verse two, pointing out my soul, there's a conversation with the soul that's also happening, which in our minds, we can often think about the soul even in a compartmentalized way of being a, a body that then has a soul. But the Hebrew mindset is thinking about the soul in a much fuller and broader picture. The soul has these dimensions of like the physical, the emotional, the intellectual, and the spiritual. It's not as broken up into pieces. And so for that reason, these practices, these rhythms, even this physical journey of going back to the temple, it trained the whole person. It trained the whole person, how to engage with God, and how to engage with the community and yourself and the earth, in response to the truth of God, and who God is, what they believe to be true about God, and what they believe to be true about the future, in the coming hope. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. So why is the psalmist fainting? Why is the psalm is to the point of longing to their soul is fainting? That's the question in terms of context that I want to answer next. Why is the psalmist longing for the courts of the Lord to the point of fainting Psalms 42 and 43 Give us a little bit better picture here like these are, this is an exile. They're not again, like you said, like I said, like they're, they're not in the place of God. They're not in Jerusalem. They're not with the temple. So there is this exhale. They are away from this. They're under oppression, suffering in justices. In Psalms 42, verse three, the Psalmist says, My tears have been my food day and night while they say to me all day long where is your God ever just felt mocked. I'm not even referring to mocked by people. Yes, that happens. We get mocked we can get we can be mocked by people. We're human flesh is mocking us. But do you ever feel those times where you're like, you're suffering just feels like it's mocking you. And even times when you're like, man, like the suffering you see of the people around you is mocking God. The pain you see is like this is this is mocking. And you feel like under the burden of that this was the experience these psalms would have experienced that. In Psalms 43, I'm just gonna actually just go ahead and read the whole thing because it gives us a context of some of the things that are that the psalmist is wrestling with that would lead them to go God I longed for your coming Kingdom I longed to be with your presence were all of this is away from me. It's gone. The Somnus and Psalms 43 says vindicate me, oh God, and defend my cause, against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me. For you are the God in whom I take refuge? Why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling right sound familiar? Talking about this journey? Then I will go to the altar of God to God My exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lair. Oh God, my God. Why are you cast down on my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me, hoping God for I shall again praise him My salvation and my God. There is oppression and justice, pain. There's a sense of like, scattered history like I'm not with my people. People around me don't understand they mock me. They shame me. Suffering. And I want to ask you the question, I think something, it helps us just like it helps us to ask, Who is asking for rest here? And to and to look at, look at these other passages and go, Oh, that's who's asking for rest. It's an exiled people. Oh, that's who's asking for a rest. This is people that are suffering under the weight of oppression under other empires. He's foreign empires that are in land that was promised to them. And there isn't, and they're not just there, but they are causing them to suffer their social status, if you will, their their class is very lonely. And they are looked down upon and mocked frequently. There faith and belief in God is called into question. They themselves question their, their trust and faith and belief in God in light of their suffering and oppression. That is, who is asking for rest. Or one vantage point of it, one element to it. Like I said, there's a lot to be unpacked here and there. So the context of what's all happening to the people of Israel. But asking the question of who is asking for rest is important in understanding the context of this psalm, right for, for study purposes, for applying to our lives, and understanding what may God be doing in our own lives right now? But asking the question, Who is asking for rest? Right now? In your city right now and your sphere of influence? Who is asking for rest in our society? Who is waiting for that? Is, is a helpful engagement even even still, right? Now, here's what I mean by that. Like, it's important that we engage scripture from multiple lenses. Can I plug them detouring a little bit here, but it's important that we when we look at Scripture, we of course, we're going to be able to see ourselves and like, man, identify in this story, you know, like, like I, like I mentioned, like, there's certain things that I was on a journey, walking away from when I left the country. And then, you know, got to this prayer room, certain things that I was aware of. Right, I was aware of like, the vantage point that I was seeing in terms of the pain and suffering that I'm bearing witness to, in our cities in America. And I'm aware of the personal wrestling and sufferings that I was experiencing in my life, or the things I'm seeing in my family. Right? We all come with a context when we're reading scripture, of what we can easily connect things to based on our experiences in life. But it's important to look and engage scripture from multiple lenses. We asked the question of who is asking for rest, here in Psalms 84, as they're seeing this song, in hopes of coming back into the temple, and looking at some of the things that may have been leading to this quest for rest and experience. But who's asking for restaurant now? It's important for that, because when we have this conversation about rest, it's important that we know this is this is very much so about you experiencing rest for your soul, but also to as the body of Christ were also to look out and go, who else is requesting this? And what's my engagement with them? What may God be actually speaking about them? What do they need to hear? And Mark chapter two, verse 27. When Jesus is the Pharisees are calling into question Jesus actions because he's allowing the disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath, Jesus responds to them and he says, like the Sabbath was made for man. And he is Lord of the Sabbath is very true. The Sabbath was made for man. But it's important that we don't just translate that to that the Sabbath, the Sabbath rest being made for just you. So who is asking for rest? Who else is asking for rest? In Luke chapter six verses six through 11 On the Sabbath, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. The religious folk are perfectly okay. With this man's ailment. And the suffering this man is under, they're perfectly okay with it. What they care about is check in Jesus. Because they're like, no, no, don't you hear this man on the Sabbath, but Jesus liberates this man from his suffering on the Sabbath. See that theme that's happening here. In terms of rest. There's this journey that the people of God are going on, they Israel's going on, in anticipation of a future liberation. Like even this pilgrim journey is the rhythm that isn't that is faithfully each time they do it increasing their hope in regards to the final liberation that will come this messianic kingdom, this coming King, which we know to be Jesus. They're made they're doing this practice believing that liberation will come. That the resting place of God where there is rest, there's liberation, and we see Jesus in Jesus actions in Luke six, that rest also involved, liberating someone else. So who in your surroundings who in your city, that you may not be thinking of who maybe not for as malice, you know, for as evil intent is the Pharisees? Who are you? Okay? With the suffering of you've made provision for that you're like, it's just a part of life. Is that okay? That in fact, heavens not okay with Christ is not okay with this makes me think of a time I had in the Philippines. I could have a long time ago on a podcast episode talked about this, this journey. But when I was in the Philippines a long time ago, a long time ago. 2019 that's what made it feel so long because it was before 2020 But I was in a an urban inner city context. And I was in the middle of like, a lot of traffic like and I was about to tell him to read through psalms 13 sitting on this bench, and I was starting to read it noise everywhere. People you know, going to and fro I started reading it very much so clearly feel like I'm hearing God tell me Nope. Start again. Read start from the beginning of my why am I gonna begin reading the psalm again. It's Psalm 13 is like, when Dave was like, how long the Lord, will you forgive me? And you know, when my enemies be against me? And basically David's complaint is like, where are you at? Got, right? He's crying. I've got where are you? How long will I be suffering here? And I'm reading it. You might feel like I'm hearing God say like, nope, started again. I'm reading this story. And I realized, oh, yeah, I'm David here. And I'm assuming that that's an appropriate place. For me. That's the framework that I can read this scripture of like, I'm David, I'm crying out calling God. How long Oh, lord. But as I began reading it, I realize oh, yeah, God, I didn't ask you. Like, I didn't engage with you in terms of like a is there another perspective to read this the story from the lens of in terms of just devotion, I wasn't at this time doing any deep dive in terms of context was just got Hulu, you know, who do I read this from the lens of because we always come with the lens. And so in that moment, as I begin again, I look around and I feel like I can, who stands out to me is this man right across from me crunched over a little bit. And he's he's like making bricks or he's like, building this like wall like structure of something's happening. But he's working with his hands. And he's kind of crouched and hunched over and as he's working, doing this skilled labor, and it's looks like a very intensive job. And as I look, I feel like I'm like, Oh, I feel called to read this song from his perspective. And as I read it from his perspective, it, it transforms the way I think about it, I'll just say that. And it makes me ask questions that I wasn't going to ask that, that wasn't asking of myself, or the Lord before catapulting me into this very, you know, this very biblical practice of reflection of conversation with God, the soul self and, and hopefully also to the community joining in with this conversation with the community. So as you read through scripture, it's, I just need I know this is kind of deviated, but I need to point out the, the crucial thing to do of don't just read it from your vantage point, you will miss the magnitude of God's redemption and you'll reduce the kingdom of God to something that you can see and understand. And it's so much be uglier than that. So who is asking for rest. Rest is a is something that we find, we go on a journey to find. And there are people like you and unlike you, that are also to crying out to the Lord for liberation, for freedom from physical from the physical oppression, societal ills, pain, trauma, but also spiritual oppression, right? Remember, the soul like it's it's multi, it's multi dimensions to it. And God's engaging the whole person. So I love about these journeys, these pilgrim journeys that Israel would would go on, and you still see rhythms and practices of that throughout scripture, that are involving the whole person. You see Jesus, when he showing up on the scene, engaging the whole person, so powerful about Jesus, liberating this man from the oppression in the social isolation that he would have been bound to by having this withered hand the judgment that he would have been bound to by having this withered hand, who knows what his economic status would have been, because of this withered hand, and with and with one touch, Jesus absolves him from it all, frees him from it all. But the religious people were okay with him remaining where he was at. Because Sabbath was just about rules, regulation, I think Jesus comes in and says, No Sabbath was made for man and I am Lord of the Sabbath. So this rest that we are entering into, it is for you, beloved, it is for you. But it is also for the person who you may not be thinking of. And it is also for the person who you might be thinking of. And I, I think the intention here in this conversation is to go, if you leave with nothing, it's the leave with who is asking for rest who else is. And you may be asking for rest, and there is a response from heaven for you. But also, who else is because God is not like, man, God is not like the religious leaders. He hears the screams, he hears the cries of injustice, he hears the lamb in the lament, he hears the pain. The god I've been suffering, so hard, so bad, to like said in Psalms 42, that my tears have now become my only form of sustenance. I am being nourished by tears, the salt and my tears are what is what is feeding me? Do you get how intense that is? Get how physical that is. God hears those cries. And the hope we have in Jesus and the hope we have in the coming kingdom, but also in the is that Jesus did is? And he's going to answer he did is and is going to answer. How is Jesus answering this rest that is found in the presence of God that has the smell, the scent, the nature of the kingdom of God that calls us into community is deeply a part of that response for practicing that future rest here and now and also building our hope to it for it. But who is asking for rest? How is God responding to them right now and how is God called you to respond to that request that scream that that pain to the point of fainting in desperate need for rest hours God calling you to respond to the desperate cries for rest of the people you see. And the people you don't see. Think another question to reflect on is there anyone that I become I'm comfortable with their suffering. In that temple on the Sabbath, we see that Jesus was not comfortable with that man suffering. I think it would be a mistake to to read that passage of scripture and to just and to gloss over that man's pain as just in a lot of times. In other words, Talak is just glossed over the fact of that man's pain and, and Jesus healing him is almost just a means to an end of responding to the Pharisees. I don't think Jesus was just responding to the Pharisees. We just thinking about like, Jesus in the wilderness in the in the devil, like coming in taunting him. And do this is like so unfazed. So one bothered does quoting scripture back. I see Jesus like I'm not arguing with you. So with that framework in mind, um, it's hard for me to believe that Jesus healing the man with the withered hand is about responding to the arguments of the Pharisees, he, he's like, I'm not arguing with you. I'm on mission. This man is crying out for rest. And on the Sabbath, this day that was created for man that I am Lord of, I preside over over, I'm going to heal him. I'm going to liberate him from his oppression. I'm going to respond to his screams. I'm going to respond to His agony. We've been called into that work with Jesus. We've been called into that practice of rest. First receiving this rest that Jesus provides and responding to our need our request for his presence that liberates and freeze and then entering into that rest and providing freedom for others. We'll go into that a lot more than that in the next episode. Bye Beloved's. If you're hearing this message, you've listened to the entire episode. And for that I am deeply grateful. I hope this episode resonated with you and if it did help us out by sharing this episode, and leaving a review on Apple podcasts, and Spotify. Most importantly, reach out to let me know how you're engaging with this episode, and what topics you'd like to see covered in the future. You can connect with us on social media, or get in touch with me directly at Gabrielle at return to joy.com to share your heart. I'll see you in two weeks for a new episode.