Are you feeling guilty for needing to spend time resting in God’s presence? Are you losing sight of what is truly important to you due to your expansive to-do list? Do you feel condemnation when you do choose to rest and rejuvenate your soul? Do you feel like it’s a waste of time to relax and read your Bible?
Resting in God’s Presence is Not a Waste of Time
Resting in God’s presence is not a waste of our time or energy. In fact, it is much needed in this fast-paced world. Spending time with the Heavenly Father by diving into His Word, listening for divine direction, and worshiping Him with all our heart is crucial to prevent stress, overwhelm, frustration, anxiety, misunderstandings, and burnout.
Life won’t always present the opportunity to “slow down”, but we can choose to make time for rest and create space for spiritual rejuvenation with Him. We can learn to be still without guilt or condemnation.
Most of us will have to work hard for what we want, however, this doesn’t mean we’re to be working ourselves to death while forsaking good mental, spiritual, and physical health. Pursuing our God-given calling will require some level of effort on our part, but this doesn’t mean we forgo our time with the Most High God to get a little more work done, or feel “better” about ourselves. This does not mean forgetting our family’s needs to focus on what we want to accomplish over God’s plans. This doesn’t mean skipping out on healthy relationships and fun memories when given the opportunity.
God is the only One who can and will provide the energy, resources, comfort, and guidance we need to succeed and be effective as a parent, leader, employee, employer, volunteer, student, or content creator.
Without God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing of great spiritual value or lasting impact. Without His provision and favor on our lives we are working for temporary gain and burnout becomes an even bigger possibility.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 (NKJV)
We won’t be able to take our material possessions with us when we pass away. We don’t know if we’ll be remembered in 200 years (even with a lasting legacy). We cannot go back in time and make good memories with our small children once the opportunity has passed. We cannot wait until our last breath to discover if we ever had a true, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
I believe God wants us to experience joy within our individual work, peace within the uncertainties of life, and contentment in our rest. It’s possible to have a fulfilled and balanced life when we rely on the Him for wisdom, provision, willpower, and strength.
Do Not Believe Satan’s Lies
The world will say you are “lazy” if you aren’t busy all the time. Know you won’t be able to please everyone no matter which life path you choose. Our enemy, Satan, will use what the world tells us to veer us away from our true purpose. He wants us to forsake time in God’s presence. The enemy knows we are susceptible to believing his lies without God’s Word as our foundational Truth.
Satan will lie to you and have you believe your daily work, job title, and various achievements are what give us our value and inherent worth. Whenever you hear him condemn you for resting or spending time with God, know that we were created to do Kingdom work, not just busywork.
The Most High God, our Heavenly Father, has instilled in us the human need for rest. He has instilled in us the need for worship and time with our loved ones.
Our loving Creator gave us our value and worth before we were born. Nobody can take that away. Christ has done most of the heavy lifting for us and will continue to help us achieve our goals when we align ourselves with the Heavenly Father’s will. The Holy Spirit will nudge us in the right direction when we ask.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV)
We are not able to “do it all”, and that is OK! You are not a machine meant to stay on 24/7. You are still valuable in His eyes whether you complete your to-do list today or not. Yes, we should be obeying His work orders for us, but we also need to learn to balance our time and energy well if we are to be truly successful in all our pursuits.
When we rely on our own strength day after day and try to accomplish everything for the sake of “being productive” we can miss out on the joys of life, connections with wonderful people, and block the Heavenly Father from communicating with us clearly. We can miss out on our blessings as well.
The Most High God wants to give us endless peace as we pursue purpose. He wants to offer us a prosperity that the world and our job status cannot offer. There is eternal life in Jesus Christ. This is a free gift for all who believe in Him and choose to follow Him.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:10 (NKJV)
You Were Created for Rest, Relationship, and Worship
God wants us to find calm within the storms of life. He wants us to know that He is right there when we call on Him during moments of chaos. He loves to spend time with us even when we’re feeling restless. He knows how frustrating it can be to learn new or better spiritual habits. He can and will provide every opportunity to make it the next level of success when we intentionally make time to listen to His guidance and read about His miraculous power in His Word. When we learn more about His character through spending time within His presence and see His Spirit working within us, it becomes easier to trust in Him.
Let’s put more faith in the One who created us for rest, relationship and worship, the One Living God who has given us our individual worth and purpose, not based on what the world says, but based on who He says we are in Him.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27 (NKJV)
Copyright 2023 Angie Vargas
Angie is a poet, Christian life coach & wife on a mission to share the transformative power & love of God.