I had a spiritual direction appointment this week, and my spiritual director was asking about my upcoming sabbatical, which will be in August through October. He asked what I was going to do, and if I had a sabbatical theme. I had to admit to my spiritual director that I do not have a theme for the sabbatical, and I only partially know what I’m going to do.
Since my book recently came out, I figured that during those three months of sabbatical, I would likely focus on publicizing the book, in addition to going on some spiritual retreats and visiting family in Texas.
But my spiritual director said, “What if your sabbatical theme is about practicing receiving grace from God, and instead of trying to sell your book, you give the book over to God and not try to see it for the three months of sabbatical?” I heard that and kind of gulped. I don’t want to give control of my book sales over to God, even if for just three months. And, by the way, isn’t that naïve? Is he saying God will sell my book?
When I considered what my spiritual director suggested, I had to think of David in 2 Samuel 24. Throughout this week’s series of posts on 2 Samuel 24, we’ve watched as David sins greatly, and as a result 70,000 people die of a plague. We see how the story concludes in verses 24–25,
“So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.”
The price of fifty shekels was set by the Mosaic Law in Leviticus 27:16. It is extremely difficult to say how much that would be worth in 2025 US dollars. The point is not to put a specific price tag on it, but to note that David rightly practices the principle of costly sacrifice. Araunah offered the space for free (as we learned in the previous post), but David knew this special place of sacrifice needed to be costly for him.
He builds the altar, sacrifices, and the plague ceases. Additionally, we come to find out that this parcel of land is the very place where David’s son Solomon will build the temple (2 Chronicles 3:1).
We have seen two lessons in 2 Samuel 24, two lessons that are interrelated. First, we should not place our hope in the human means or numbers or ingenuity. Instead we trust in God by utilizing his methods. Second, we put our hope in God by living lives of costly sacrifice to God.
Should I pause selling my book for sabbatical? Sure, sure, I know God can sell my book. God is all powerful, he loves me. But isn’t it irresponsible of me to say, “God, on my sabbatical, I am going to practice receiving grace from you, and therefore I am not going to try to sell my book, but instead I am going to take my hands off the process, and entrust it to you.” It sounds spiritual. But also super irresponsible.
Therefore, when I think of David counting the fighting men (which is what got him in trouble earlier in 2 Samuel 24), I have to admit David’s census resonates with me. I would want to count the soldiers too, and I would say it is responsible. Any good military leader would want to know, nearly at all times, the size of their fighting force. But in David’s situation, that census was an act of trusting in human efforts.
Please don’t hear me say that it is wrong to put in effort, to work hard. I’m not saying that, and neither was my spiritual director. But he was pointing out an area of my spiritual life that I am weak in, and he was suggesting a spiritual practice that could help me strengthen my weakness. My sabbatical could be an excellent time to strengthen my trust in God through what definitely feels like a costly sacrifice.
David himself wrote a psalm that says something about that deep trust, Psalm 20, verse 7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
David wrote that we should not trust in military numbers, and then in 2 Samuel 24 he attempted to do just that. We can struggle with the same tension in our lives. Believing we should trust in God to the point where we live sacrificially for him and the mission of his kingdom, but also finding it difficult to do so.
That’s why I asked you in this post, “What would you say ‘No’ to if God asks you to _______________ ?”
What does God want you to release to him? How does he want you to step out of your comfort zone?
What will it look like for you to sacrificially trust in God? What will it look like to worship God in a new way that costs you something?
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 