Life in the Margins

Last week, we discussed a life focused on the kingdom of God and how a life so focused is a life free of anxiety. This week, I would like to dive back into that theme and talk about the busyness of our modern lives. Why do we feel like we are running every day instead of living every day? Why is it so hard to leave a gap in our schedule—anywhere? What are we striving for? Why do we think it is so important? Are we really driving our lives, or are we being driven? And if we are being driven, what is driving us?

If you’re like me, you often feel guilty when you sit down. It’s usually not a specific feeling, but you feel like you should really be doing something else, something more. There are endless things I could be doing, so I feel like I really should be doing something. Then, we read things like this in Proverbs:

Go to the ant, O sluggard;
       consider her ways, and be wise.  
Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
       she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.  
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
       When will you arise from your sleep?  
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
       and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.  Prov 6:6-11[ESV]

Verses like this can give that compulsion to do something, to work harder, to get busier, another shot in the arm. (To be clear, if you are a sluggard, you need to think carefully about this passage because it is wise, though not the topic of this article.) But for those who have already filled every waking moment with work and activities, for those too busy for church, the scriptures, or even friends, the Bible has more to say than get busy.

Unless the Lord builds the house, 
     those who build it labor in vain. 
Unless the Lord watches over the city, 
     the watchman stays awake in vain. 
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, 
     eating the bread of anxious toil; 
          for he gives to his beloved sleep. 
Psalm 127:1-2 [ESV]

Last week, we learned to seek God’s kingdom first because God will care for you as he does the birds and the grass. This will involve work; his disciples didn’t just lie around all day. But it does not lead to the kind of compulsive busyness that keeps us running non-stop 24/7. God’s work involves rest; in fact, he mandated rest in the 10 commandments. We were to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. That is not just a command to go to church on Sunday or to take a day off (whatever that means in today’s world). Rest in God is an act of faith, worship, and obedience.

When we fill our lives with non-stop activity of any kind, we crowd God out, leaving no margin for God, for reflection, or for enjoying the company of others. To seek God’s kingdom as our highest priority is not to work harder but to work for something other than ourselves. God is not something we try to find some time for; God is primary, and our desires, family, work, and play come second. But as we see in Psalm 127, when God builds the house (and he will use our hands to do it), we get the house, without the anxiety, and we also get to sleep.

Anxiety is often the product of idolatry. Idolatry is anything we put in God’s place. Money, position, and even our children’s happiness and education can become idols. Worse, when we chase after the idols our culture has erected, we model that for our children, teaching them that the idolatrous desires and goals of this world are, in fact, the true gods.

Idols do not love us; they give us no rest because whatever we do will never be enough, it will never satisfy us. We will run and run and never arrive. This is a tragedy because it is completely unnecessary. God’s peace is with Him, and He is ever present—if we slow down enough to see Him and listen to His words.

Jesus taught us about this in Matthew when he said:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, 
     and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, 
    for I am gentle and lowly in heart, 
           and you will find rest for your souls. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 
Matt 11:28-30[ESV]

The burden of Jesus is not like the burden of our self-appointed gods. Putting Jesus first and carrying his load is not doing nothing. But there is rest in it; Jesus is not a slave driver. Sin is slavery, and idolatry is sin. To make Jesus Lord and his kingdom our primary concern is to find freedom from the slavery of our culture’s gods.

How do we break free?

Like all habits, breaking the habit of compulsive busyness begins today, this moment in fact. Tomorrow will not change unless you change today. Take some time, right now, to clear your mind of the list of things you feel urgently require your attention, and focus on God and the things He wants for you at this moment. Ask God what He wants you to accomplish today, because “His yoke is easy, and His burden is light,” and “You will find rest for your soul.”

Have a great week!