“You can rest when you retire!” someone once said to me.

I'm starting to doubt that statement is true. Retired people seem to be just as busy as I am.

I have a confession to make: I don't like being busy. I just don't. I don't think I function well when I have too much on my plate. But on flip side of the coin, I don't like being completely idle and unproductive, either. I like to be Goldilocks when it comes to being busy/productive: not too much, not too little, but just … right.

But, it's surprising how easily life can get away from us when we're busy. Life has a tendency to move very, very quickly and we're left trying to play catch up from the pace. So many things to do. So many deadlines to meet and people to beat. No, wait. It's so many deadlines to beat and people to meet. Errands to run. Meetings to attend. We move, move, move and do, do, do.

During my devotionals, I read a passage in Exodus. Moses and Aaron had just confronted Pharaoh, and instead of Pharaoh listening to them, he increased the workload of the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh ordered a stop in supply of straw to the slaves, but still expected the Israelites to make the same quota of bricks. God reassured Moses, promising to bring him and the Israelites to the land that God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses told all this to the Israelites, “But they didn't listen to Moses, because of their complete exhaustion and their hard labor.” (Exodus 6:9, CEB).

I am confident in saying that I'm not the only who has ever felt that way — where we're so busy and exhausted from life that it's hard to listen to the voice of God.

God commanded His people to take a Sabbath–to take time to rest from labors so that we can commune with God. So that we can remind ourselves that we are first and foremost a child of God. So that we can remind ourselves that there is more to life than work and busyness. To really remember to be a human being and not a human doing who produces brick after brick after brick after brick like some sort of robot.

Our Spirit longs to commune with God. Not only is it important to have a Sabbath day, I feel it's important to have Sabbath moments; to give ourselves permission to stop what we're doing and just… be with God.

With all the things we have to do, our lives are filled with stress and we miss out on the joy that every moment has an opportunity to bring.

So, today (and everyday) I urge you to take a moment to smell a flower, watch an animal enjoy its surroundings, take in more than a couple of deep breaths… I don't know. Do something that will remind you that the presence of God is always with us and that you are God's beloved.

Take time to be still and know God.