Waiting for Worthy

Admittedly, I find myself often distracted, purposefully. Like a Busy Bee! 

When a neighbor jokingly responded to my love of bees as a perfect mascot for my personality, “between you and your bees, you are the busiest bee,” “Do you ever rest?” I was convicted. 

I distract myself in painful circumstances. I even distract myself by being too busy with God. I will find mountains of work to accomplish when I should rest, to avoid pausing where God needs me to. I wrestle with the thoughts that slowing down means lazy work and lack of achievement. I often define my own busyness with accomplishment and doing something useful and fruitful during trials. I will even rewrite a stressful matter into a parody, just to excuse my need to find solitude and truth in the reality of the matter. Avoidance and Distractions are my greatest accomplishments. “Oh, the confession of that is just that,” I confess I am terrible at this word REST. 

What exactly is God trying to teach when He causes me to rest? What purpose in resting is there when there is so much to do, so many to serve, and a world that is in nonstop need? How do I succeed in such a thing, without feeling guilty?

First, defining what this is as an action and a noun can shed insight into God’s intentions.

Rest (verb): cease to work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength

Rest (noun): an instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity.

Second, realizing that I am not the true accomplish maker. God is! Ouch! The sting, like a bee, of realizing I am not busy saving the world. God already accomplished that with The Cross! That’s a pretty good way to stop me from being busy and rest in that! 

“But, God…. there is still so much to do that you require from us! So, how do I rest in that?”

In Luke 5: 4-11, Jesus teaches us about obedience, a miracle, trust and leaving everything behind to follow Him. This includes what they worked for all night. Can you imagine casting all of your hard work aside and just leaving it? 

“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him.

They left everything, Ya’ll!!! 

God reminds me in scripture that busyness, even in serving or intentionally good, can distract us from the goodness of what God is teaching. 

Luke 10:38-42

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

The conviction in this passage! 

“So, REST…… Here I am in need of you! Here is where God brings restoration, healing, devotion, obedience, and a deeper understanding of who God is and I am not.”

Sheri Griffin