​THE PACE OF SUMMER

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” —Matthew 11:28
Summer has a strange way of speeding up just when we imagine it will slow down. We start the season dreaming of open calendars, lazy afternoons, and backyard evenings. But somehow, the pace picks up—filled with vacations, kids’ activities, family obligations, projects we’ve saved “for when there’s time.”

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​There’s a pull to make summer count, to squeeze in as much as we can. But Jesus offers a different invitation:
“Come to me… and I will give you rest.”

Not just a break. Not just a nap or a recharge. But rest for our souls. The kind of rest that reorients us to what really matters.

That’s what Sabbath is. Not just a day off, but a rhythm of resistance against a world that says our value lies in what we produce. Sabbath is God’s reminder that time belongs to God—not to our calendars, inboxes, or expectations.

And true Sabbath rest is more than leisure. It’s not just a Sunday afternoon on the patio—though that may be part of it. Sabbath is a full-bodied rhythm that includes stopping, delighting, and worshiping. It’s an invitation to return to center. To remember who we are and whose we are. To remember that God is God—and we are not.

Summer can be a chance to rediscover that rhythm.

Yes, in the quiet moments: walking without a destination, sitting in the sun, lingering over a meal. But also in the intentional ones: gathering for worship, hearing God’s Word, singing with others who are trying (imperfectly) to live by grace. Sabbath points us to the truth that rest isn’t just for recovery—it’s for relationship. With God. With one another. With creation. With our own selves.
What would it look like for you to enter into a Sabbath rhythm this summer?

Not as one more thing to schedule, but as a way to trust that God meets us in stillness and shapes us through sacred time.

Maybe it means choosing worship even when the lake is calling. Or turning a free evening into a time of prayer, reflection, or reconnection. Or simply naming that the pause is holy.

Jesus doesn’t give us rest after the work is done. Jesus offers rest in the midst of it all—as a way of grace. Of grounding. Of remembering that we don’t have to hold everything together.

This summer, let Sabbath be more than a break. Let it be a return.

Even in summer.

Especially in summer.

Peace,
Travis Segar, Pastor for Care and Community