Prodigal Sabbath Rest
Learning to delight in the overflowing grace of God
As I’ve said before in these “pages,” I don’t rest well. Or at least I didn’t. But God works on us, doesn’t he? He pursues us like a jealous lover who desires that we don’t stay in our sin and weakness but grow towards righteousness and virtue and Christlikeness. In November of 2024, I wrote these words:
But there are three related barriers to my being able to fully rest…
The first is my OCD. I don’t bring this up as an excuse, but as a matter of fact: what OCD does is send you intrusive, unwanted, anxiety-producing thoughts that capture and torment your mind. And when is the best time for OCD to send those thoughts? When you are sitting still and doing nothing in particular. Second, despite knowing the lies of the modern Total Work agenda, I still fall into it. I still feel like I need to be constantly doing to make my being valuable. And third, I have not taken the time to cultivate many interests outside of writing and research. So the idea of doing leisurely activities seems foreign to me.
Well, it’s July 2026 and while I won’t say I’ve mastered rest, I can say that these words are no longer completely true of me. And I want to share how things changed and what that looks like.
First, I sought and fought for good OCD treatment so that I could have the mental space to rest without intrusive thoughts invading every spare moment. That is not to say that I’m 100% free of doubts—no one is. But it is to say that I can be alone with my thoughts without anxiety welling up in me. What this taught me was that sometimes we need to take the time to address underlying causes of unrest.
We can’t wait until those causes are addressed before we pursue rest. We need to seek rest daily and weekly, trusting in the Lord for our provision. But if we struggle with distress, it may not be a lack of trust in God. It may be trauma, generalized anxiety, OCD, or other factors that can be treated.
Second, I practiced resting, particularly Sabbath resting. This was difficult for me because I teach on Mondays and I publish Substack articles on Mondays at 7am. So I have things to prepare for on Monday mornings. But my goal has been to shift all work off of Sundays—the Lord’s Day—onto Saturdays, so that I can be fully present and rest on Sundays. Some days there are extenuating circumstances, but I try my best to stick to that rule. I even plan to let my students know that I won’t be replying to emails on Sundays.
The most important part of this practice was practicing. At first it was difficult. I still felt my old guilt and shame for not being productive. For not submitting to what Josef Pieper calls “Total Work.” Shouldn’t I be writing? Shouldn’t I be researching? Shouldn’t I be reading for class? What if I’m falling behind, falling out of time, becoming desynchronized? Naps were difficult because of the racing thoughts. But the more I devoted myself to these practices, the easier they became.
Third, I focused on prodigal practices to replace the efficient practices that filled my week. The efficient practices were not evil, but they were generally focused on me providing for me and my family. For Sabbath rest, I wanted to do activities that focused on God providing for me and my family. For example, taking a nap is an act that trusts that God will provide for me, keep me and my family safe while I close my eyes. Reading poetry (I finished John Berryman’s collection of Dream Songs recently) is prodigal because it doesn’t provide anything. It’s done for simply for the beauty and goodness of reading poetry! Going on a walk with my wife is prodigal (if it’s not done for exercise, as C.S. Lewis notes in The Screwtape Letters) because I’m just delighting in her company and God’s creation. Playing a board game with my family or watching a movie is prodigal because it does not accomplish anything to provide or sustain my existence. God is doing everything. I’m just delighting in his great works. Eating a large cup of ice cream (my one cup per week—usually) is prodigal because it’s excessive. It’s pure joy.
Done rightly, this kind of rest is not just practiced on Sundays but throughout our week. We take little rests to delight in creation, to rest at night, to remember that we are not sovereign—God is. We do have obligations to work with excellence unto the Lord to care for ourselves and others, but it’s always God who is really providing. So we don’t have to be anxious anymore.