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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 1:1-31, Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 16:14-31, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Psalm 92:1-15, Isaiah 58:13.

Memory Text: “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

Who can imagine what the acts of creation — light amid darkness, oceans brimming with life, birds suddenly taking flight — must have been like? And the supernatural creation of Adam and Eve? We can’t even begin to grasp how God did it.

But then, after all of this active creating, God turned His attention to something else. At first glance, it did not seem as spectacular as leaping whales or dazzling feather displays. God simply made a day, the seventh day, and then He made it special. Even before humanity would dash off on our self-imposed stressful lives, God set a marker as a living memory aid. God wanted this day to be a time for us to stop and deliberately enjoy life — a day to be and not do, to celebrate the gift of grass, air, wildlife, water, people, and most of all, the Creator of every good gift.

This invitation would continue even after the first couple was exiled from Eden. God wanted to make sure that the invitation could stand the test of time, and so, right from the beginning, He knit it into the very fabric of time itself.

During this week, we will study God’s wonderful invitation to enter into a dynamic rest, again and again, with every seventh day.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 28.</

Sunday–>

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Just a few months ago I shared a story about a plane crash where around 80 people were killed. The whole ordeal could have been avoided if only proper communication and understanding had taken place. Some say the cockpit should have communicated more clearly. Others agree the ATC should have listened better. I feel for both sides because I have been on both sides. 

I rarely if ever get sick. Apparently God has blessed me with a good immune system. I am also a happy person. I rarely if ever get depressed. My friends talk about how happy I am all the time. A father once jokingly told his family that the reason I am always is happy is because I am single and have no kids. Or at least I hope the family took it as a joke. Having a family should make one happy not sad. Just the same it has occurred to me that God must have also provided me with an immunity to depression. I rarely ever get depressed and when I do it does not last long at all. 

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

So how does that help me feel for both sides? Like the ATC, I don’t always detect depression in others, though I have gotten better over time. I am a very punctual and responsible person. So when others are late, or just flake out on a commitment, my first thought used to be that they were just undependable people. It never occurred to me until recently that they were fighting depression.

Years ago I was working with a very small church school that hired a new principal from out of state. He accepted the job but when it came time, he never showed up. He never responded to our calls until, finally, we had to scramble to replace him at the last minute, realizing he was not communicating any more. I was very offended that a professional would behave in that manner – not showing up for  work or even communicating. Later we finally found out that he was going through a family crisis and was very depressed. Once he finally contacted us, he was very sorry for the situation. Of course we had replaced him by then, but I learned that depression can affect anyone. And not everyone who flakes out is a flake. Often they are depressed and don’t know what to do about it. I get that now.

Meanwhile I can also identify with the cockpit crew. Like I said, I rarely every get depressed and it has been over 20 years since my little outburst. I finally recently told you all about. I seem to have a good immunity against depression, and my friends, and even students at the school where I help, comment about how upbeat I seem to be all the time. I have never not shown up for work. I have never flaked out on a date, agreement or assignment. I have never failed to communicate if I am late or plans have changed. But rare as it may be, there have been times when I sure felt like it! Over the last 50 plus years, there have been times I wanted to jump in my car and just run away somewhere – anywhere! There have been times I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it. There have been times I wanted to find a deserted island and move there. Now if you’ve known me for a long time, you are probably shocked reading this. That is because I never communicated it. You never saw it. I acted like everything was okay, and, within time, before I acted out the feeling passed over. Usually all it took for me was a good night’s rest or phone call with a trusted friend, and everything was right in the world again. My rare depressions were never chronic but they were enough to help me understand why people do the things that they do. In other words, while I have never accepted a new job and then never shown up, I do understand how that might happen. I understand that depression makes people do things no one understands. 

Obviously my rare depressions were situational and temporary. I understand many people have chronic depression which takes place even on the most beautiful of days for no apparent reason. When chronically depressed people actually carry out irresponsible and foolish acts, I can still relate, because just because I have never carried out an irrational action does not mean I have have never felt like it. I have felt like it! The good news is that there is help for all of us. God understands even when no one else does. As a matter of fact there are some pretty pathetic psalms in the book of Psalms. Some of them make me wonder how they ever even made it into the Bible. Some of them seem to offer no solution as David just expresses his pathetic emotions. Then, again, maybe that is why they are in a collection of inspired writings – to let us know even inspired people sometimes have irrational feelings and emotions. 

Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Psalm 143:7 NLT 

Of course we all know God is our number one source of joy and peace. However God said it was not good for people to be alone, which is why He created a community for Adam. We need community too. Sometimes we need to go ahead and call professionals in the community to help us with depression. Abide Counseling is a group of trained Adventist professionals who are trained to use Bible principles for dealing with and overcoming depression. They can even help you online in the privacy of your own home. They can work with your budget.

It has been a stressful and isolating last couple of years for most people, and does not seem to be getting better. Some of us have been isolated. Some of us are grieving the loss of a loved one(s) during isolation.  Help is available, and Abide Counseling is a safe and biblically sound resource for finding hope, peace and meaning.

The Abide Counseling website also has several helpful and encouraging blog posts concerning depression and anxiety. I encourage you to explore their blog post section and find some help and encouragement. 

We owe it to ourselves to get the help we need to have the joy and peace God wants us to have. We owe it to others to be sensitive and caring for others who may be battling depression. 

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Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0fKLeskbQM&w=560&h=315]

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Better Than Toys

By Andrew McChesney

Several friends gathered around Mariah at school on Monday.

“What are you doing after school?” one asked.

Image © Pacific Press

“Can we come over to your house to play?” said another.

Mariah shook her head. “I have so much to do today,” she said

Nine-year-old Mariah was a busy girl in Pond Inlet, a small town located on an isolated island in the Canadian Arctic. Every weekday she went to school and did her homework. She also helped her parents around the house. On Sabbath, her family read the Bible and watched online sermons at home.

But Mariah’s friends really wanted to play with her. On Tuesday, the children gathered around her again, and on Thursday and Friday.

“But when can we come over to your house to play?” a friend asked.

“How about Saturday?” said another. “You must have time on Saturday.”

Mariah’s eyes lit up. She did have free time on Saturday. “You can come over to my house and join our Bible study on Saturday,” she said.

Her friends looked confused. They had never read the Bible. But they wanted to spend time with Mariah, so they agreed to come over on Saturday.

On Sabbath, a few friends showed up at Mariah’s house. As Mariah read from the Bible, they looked confused. They had never heard about the God of the Bible. They again looked confused with Father turned on an online sermon. They had never heard a sermon, and they did not understand the Adventist preacher. Afterward, they asked Mariah to explain.

“What did he mean when he said that?” one asked.

“Or what about when he spoke about that?” said another.

Mariah tried to explain the sermon and to simplify it. When she finished, her friends seemed to understand what she was attempting to say.

At school on Monday, several classmates asked Mariah’s friends what they had done at Mariah’s house on Saturday. “We read about God in the Bible,” answered one. “And we watched an interesting sermon,” said another.

The classmates also had never read the Bible or watched a sermon, and they wanted to know more. Mariah’s friends explained what they had learned. Mariah smiled as she listened. She felt good. This was better than playing with toys. She would welcome her classmates into her home every Sabbath.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a church and community services center to share God in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where Mariah lives. Thank you for planning a generous offering.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

“With the continual change of circumstances, changes come in our experience; and by these changes we are either elated or depressed. But the change of circumstances has no power to change God’s relation to us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and He asks us to have unquestioning confidence in His love.” — Ellen G.

White, In Heavenly Places, p. 120.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Keep looking unto Jesus, offering up silent prayers in faith, taking hold of His strength, whether you have any manifest feeling or not. Go right forward as if every prayer offered was lodged in the throne of God and responded to by the One whose promises never fail. Go right along, singing and making melody to God in your hearts, even when depressed by a sense of weight and sadness. I tell you as one who knows, light will come, joy will be ours, and the mists and clouds will be rolled back. And we pass from the oppressive power of the shadow and darkness into the clear sunshine of His presence.” — Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, pages 242, 243.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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