Exploring the Sabbath: What It Means to Rest in a Restless World

Modern hustle culture stands in stark contrast to a biblical worldview. Hustle culture tells us that our worth is tied to what we can produce. The more value we bring to the table, the more we are valued in return. 

God tells us something different. He tells us that we are valuable because we belong to Him. It is not our actions or our results that give us value. We do not need to work ourselves to death in order to be loved and accepted. All we have to do is exist. 

What hustle culture gets wrong is that we need to rest. God did not design us to constantly be working. Quite the opposite — He designed our actions to stem from a place of deep rest in Him. 

In the Hebrew language, there are two kinds of rest: shabbat and nuakh. Shabbat simply means to stop working, like when you end a shift. Nuakh, on the other hand, is a bit more complex. It means to dwell or settle down. It means to enjoy the pleasures that God has given you. It can look like a day where you go hiking with your family, or a night around a bonfire with your best friends. 

Both shabbat and nuakh are present in the Genesis creation story in the original Hebrew. On the seventh day, God rested (shabbat) and made it holy. When He created humans, He placed them in a state of rest (nuakh), indicating that rest is not merely a break from work but an ongoing experience of peace and connection with Him. Both forms of rest are woven into the very fabric of creation.

From this, we can gather that we should not only have days where we don’t work (shabbat), but that everything we do should stem from a place of profound rest (nuakh).

Continuing in the Genesis narrative, after man falls, God lays out the consequences of sin in Genesis 3:16-19. He describes this process of painful toil in order to receive meager rewards. This concept is called etseb in Hebrew. Etseb can be thought of as the antithesis of nuakh. One restores and energizes, while the other drains and leeches. 

Modern day hustle culture resembles etseb more than it resembles nuakh. We are told to grind and push ourselves to the brink. Sleep is for the weak, work is what is needed. We work and work until our bodies throw a fit and force us to be incapacitated for days (sickness, mental breakdowns, stress). But even at that point, it is not true rest, because the whole time we feel guilty and feel as though we should return to etseb. Rest is coded in our very DNA. Sleep is a biological necessity. If we do not sleep, we will go insane. Sleep and rest are necessities, not luxuries or rewards. 

This cycle was never God’s plan. He wants us to work from a heart of nuakh, not a heart of etseb. 

The ancient Israelites fell into this trap, too. God knew this. That is why He included recognizing the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments. Israel had been slaves in Egypt for generations. How they were treated by their oppressors varied greatly on how much they produced. Being raised in conditions like that, they would continue to find their worth in raw production value had God not intervened. 

One of the key reasons God created us was for relationship. We are meant to have relationship with Him and with each other. It is impossible to maintain relationships if all we do is work. We must rest and enjoy each other if relationships are to truly flourish and not be transactional. 

In music, a “rest” is when a musician stops playing, allowing space for other sounds. The people of God are like a grand orchestra, each of us contributing our unique sound. When playing properly, we all harmonize beautifully. When we go off-script, we create dissonance. All are essential in creating the masterpiece. God is the conductor of this orchestra, guiding us on when to play and when to rest. At times, He calls us to step forward and play a solo, while at other times, we are called to support someone else’s lead. There are also moments when we join in harmony with others, and times when we step back, resting completely while others take the lead. As the conductor, it is God’s wisdom that determines when we play and when we rest, ensuring that the music flows with balance. If we were all to play at full volume all the time, the song would quickly turn ugly.

What is your part to play in God’s great orchestra? Is it time for you to play a solo, or is it time for you to take a rest? Wherever God has you right now, do it to the best of your ability. Solo confidently and boldly when it’s your turn. Nuakh fully when it’s your turn to rest. Do everything from a place of complete reliance and confidence in our great conductor, trusting His timing and guidance in every season.