Sabbatical Reflections
September 20, 2026
optimizing
After 3 months away, it is so good to be home. I am filled with gratitude for our church, and I am really looking forward to being together this Sunday to worship and share some of what God has been teaching me. One question I’ve been reflecting on comes from T. S. Eliot: “Where is the Life we have lost in living?”
It is easy to become so occupied with work, responsibilities, relationships, and even our spiritual lives that we lose touch with the deeper life God invites us to receive. In Isaiah 30, God speaks to his people who have responded to fear and uncertainty by trying to secure themselves. His invitation is both challenging and tender: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” God offers us this incredible invitation to rest in him, and yet we often resist receiving it. So how does God respond? “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you.” What would change if we genuinely believed that God is not waiting for us to perform, prove ourselves, or get everything right, but actually longs to meet us with grace?
This Sunday, we will explore some powerful truths in Isaiah 30:15–21 around Rest, Relationships, Resilience, and Revelation and what they might mean for our life together as apprentices of Jesus. My hope is that we will not simply talk about following Jesus, but become people who are increasingly available to receive his love and live from it.