Pastor’s Ponderings

Pastor Paul Bennet

by Pastor Paul Bennett

As many of you may know, when this published Circuit Rider article reaches you, I will be only days away from beginning a month-long renewal leave.

Ever since committing to taking this leave earlier this year, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the notion of being away from work for a whole month.

The only experience I can recall that seems at all similar was every summer as a child, particularly in my teen years when school became more challenging. We were released from that final day of class to head out and enjoy what seemed like an endless summer vacation. The excitement and anticipation were off the charts. Needless to say, while I will most certainly miss all of you, I am excited for all that this month will hold.

Another term generally seen as interchangeable with “renewal leave” is “sabbatical.” The word derives from the Hebrew term “sabat” or, in English, “sabbath,” and literally means “rest” or “to cease.” It seems apt that we’re concluding a sermon series entitled “Busy” just as I enter this period of rest and ceasing. Many of us are not particularly good at resting. I know there have been periods of my life during which I’ve flaunted my busy schedule and extreme productivity before people as a badge of honor, but how foolish this looks when measured against Scripture. Countless passages speak to busyness as a trap that represents a lack of trust in God and a form of idolatry. Does God want us to be productive in our service to Him? Of course He does. But long before what we accomplish in life becomes relevant, we must first establish, then re-establish, and re-establish again who we are. Unless we’re serving and working out of an intensive realization that we are a child of God, and out of a transformative, daily relationship with Him, then all of our busyness becomes, as Solomon refers to it in Ecclesiastes 1:2, “utterly meaningless!”

The renewal I hope to experience during the month of October is a renewal each of us should be seeking every day. The end goal isn’t so much the literal experience of rest, but rather we rest from our labors so we can afford ourselves the space to pull back, renew our understanding of who we are in Christ as we engage those busy schedules, and then reinject ourselves into God’s call full force. More important than what we’re resting from is what we’re resting to. The ultimate goal is to establish a rhythm of life that ensures regular space to “be still,” because only in doing so do we allow our hearts and minds to truly “know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Thank you, church, for affording me the opportunity to “be still” and resolidify this rhythm in my life. I pray you all are seeking and experiencing the same.

With you in ministry,
Pastor Paul