The past few months – okay…my entire life – I’ve struggled with sitting still.
Whether it’s after coming home from work, through a long movie, or on my “rest day”, I’ve realized I suck at relaxing.
Over time I’ve come to notice that I’m not the only one who’s experiencing this, so I thought I would share a mental breakthrough (not breakdown lol) I had recently and maybe it can help those who feel the same.
It’s not breaking news or rocket science, but it has drastically changed my outlook on working hard and completing my everyday tasks.
First, let me talk about how all of this came about.
A few months ago, I was getting frustrated because no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t relax. I would come home from work and there would always be things in my mind that were “pressing” that needed to get done right then. One thing would lead to another and before I knew it, it was time to start dinner and get my stuff ready for work the next day.
I even tried being intentional about designating Wednesdays as my “do nothing after school” days. If you’ve been following my Instagram page, then you know that I post a video called “Explore the Word Wednesday” every Wednesday where we explore a piece of scripture together…so in all actuality I wasn’t resting because I still had to upload the video – I know…this plan had flaws.
When I would finally put my phone to the side and try to read a book or watch a show, I couldn’t help but want to do a million other things. It’s like when I was busy, I wanted to relax, but when I finally got the chance to relax, I couldn’t keep my mind off what needed to be done.
The need for me to constantly be doing something reminded me of the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible.
If you aren’t familiar with the story, I’ll give you a quick recap.
During Jesus’ 3 years of ministry here on earth he was invited into the home of a woman named Martha. Just like anyone else who hosts important guests in their home, Martha immediately began to cook, clean, and get everything done that needed to be done. In the meantime, Jesus was teaching the other people present in the home. One of those people was Martha’s sister, Mary.
Martha wasn’t exactly thrilled with the fact that she was doing all the work and Mary hadn’t lifted one finger to help. Instead of kindly asking Mary to help, Martha made it known to Jesus exactly how she felt.
She asked Him if He even cared about her or the fact that she was doing everything under the sun to serve while her sister offered her zero help. To top it all off she requested that Jesus tell her sister to help her.
So not only was she questioning His love for her, but she also instructed the Messiah to do something. Yikes.
Instead of getting angry and criticizing her though, Jesus kindly and compassionately told her that Mary was actually in the right, and she was in the wrong. Here’s what He said:
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42
You see, in the busy-ness of planning, preparing, serving, and unnecessarily overwhelming herself, Martha lost sight of the bigger picture. She lost sight of the fact that the Savior of the world was in HER house!
Don’t we tend to do this all too often? We get so worked up in the grind that we forget the reason and, most importantly, Who we’re doing it for.
I came across a verse that gave me a good look into why I was a modern day Martha.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10
After reading this verse I realized that I was reversing the roles. Instead of finding my identity in Jesus, I was finding it in the work I was completing.
The way I was living my life made it seem like the verse went something like this:
“For I am his workmanship, created for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that I should walk in them.”
This definitely is not what the good Lord has planned for my life, or yours.
Now, let me say that there is NOTHING wrong with working hard. It’s just that we will never be able to sustain habits where we prioritize hard work over a relationship with God.
If we want to enjoy this life and not constantly experience burn out, we need to make sure that we’re not reversing the roles.
Finding our identity in Jesus before our works sets us up to live a life of abundance filled with peace, comfort, joy, and His guidance.
Whereas finding our identity in always being on the go or working yourself to death promises anxiety, burn out, and misery. If we continue in this then we will never be able to find true rest.
As my young adult pastor and good friend, Mike Gonzalez, says, “rest is an act of worship“. Rest is something that allows our bodies and minds to experience God’s peace and will actually help us be more productive in the long run. It’s vital to our existence.
How do we know this? Just look at the story of creation in Genesis 1. God created everything in this world for 6 days straight, but on the 7th He chose to rest (aka the Sabbath). So if the Creator of the universe takes a rest day, I think we should follow suit!
This is definitely a lifetime journey, not an overnight success. I pray that we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and who He has made us in HIM, rather than trying to find our purpose in crossing things off on our to-do lists.
Let’s get out of the cycle of busy-ness together, friend.
Until next time,
Kaitlin
*God put it on my heart to leave a challenge at the end of every blog post to help you get closer to Him and His beautiful creation. Find this weekend’s challenge below!
Weekend Challenge: Schedule 10 minutes of outside time this weekend where you can just rest in God’s presence! This can be going for a walk or bike ride, reading a book, or watching a sunrise/sunset. Whatever you do, be intentional about laying down your busy schedule and problems that come with it, appreciate the nature around you, and praise God for it 🙂
