Don’t feel guilty for taking the time
- Amber Miller: A Word of Truth
- July 16, 2018
- 1722
I must say, as many others can as well I’m sure, that we’ve been extremely busy lately. My garden is in full swing and needing harvested and tended to.
The yard needs mowed, weeds need pulled and the list of outside work goes on and on. Plus our boys have had a lot of baseball games lately, which pulls us away from all the work that needs done at home.
I feel like we go from one extreme to the other: in the winter boredom at times and in the summer overwhelmed. A happy medium year round would be just perfect, but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?
Business should not be a constant way of life but rather seasons we go through. I don’t like the fact that when I get overly busy, my spiritual life tends to suffer. Although I make time most every morning to spend with God and get in the word, those moments lately have been overshadowed by the “to do” list flowing through my mind.
“You’ve got this to do and that, and make sure you don’t forget ... ” My mind gets distracted, and then I don’t even realize what I’ve read. I finish my quiet time to start on work no different than when I went into it, hungering for the peace and rest that only God can give. I want to give God my best, and I haven’t been lately.
“Be still and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10.
That seemingly simple yet deeply important verse was what came to me this morning as I began my day because the Holy Spirit knew it was just what I needed. It’s like he was saying, “Put all the stuff you have to do aside. Let it go and rest in me. And do not feel guilty for doing so.”
Maybe you don’t, but I struggle with guilt at times. My dad used to say I was a perfectionist, and although you wouldn’t think that by stepping into my house and looking around, I do put an intense amount of pressure on myself often.
I know this perfectionist pressure is not from God but is rather from the enemy to keep me from being at rest. It is a pressure that leads to guilt if expectations are not met, but it is my own fault for allowing the enemy to get to me in that way.
In those times I need to recognize it and stop him right in his tracks. God is not expecting perfection from me, and he wants to feed me rather than demand from me.
“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” — Psalm 23:1-2.
God doesn’t want our souls (mind, will and emotions) to be going nonstop. He wants our souls to be at rest and peace.
Think of the peaceful scene that is pictured in those verses above. It is not one that is constantly at work but is rather at rest. It is slow, calm and serene.
When I picture it in my mind, it slows me down and makes me smile as I sense an inner peace coming over me. It reminds me of what is truly important. It’s like God is saying, “Rest my child. It is OK to rest, and I want you to.”
It is OK to push the work aside at times. I’m not advocating laziness, but I am saying the most important thing we can do is be still and know that he is God. Remember, he was pleased with Mary resting at his feet and not Martha who was so busy working for him.
He didn’t scold Mary for resting but rather applauded her and scolded Martha for working and not being at rest. We should never reverse that order. Jesus knew what was truly important and what we needed most, and that is for us to take from him.
Don’t allow the enemy to make you feel guilty for giving God your time. Fill up with Jesus first, work second. When we do that, our work will become more efficient, and we will be working from a place of rest, not stress and anxiety. He will carry us through if we allow him to. Be still and know that he is God.
Amber can be reached at amberdeemiller32@gmail.com or through her AmberRiceMiller Facebook page.