These days people are completely overloaded with life. I don’t know about you, but there have been moments where stress has completely thrown me off course. Whether it’s exams, work pressures, relational tension or emotional issues, there are times in life where things seem to become so heavy that it is hard to move forwards.
I’m a huge fan of history. Nothing fascinates me more than how we all ended up the way we are today. But when reading stories and engaging with our past, I have found that issues like anxiety and stress have become way more prevalent recently.
I believe a very big factor in our struggle to manage life is that we are overstimulated. Technology has made everything “easier”, but because things have become easier, things have become faster. What used to take days to do, now take seconds. But that doesn’t mean that we have 24 hours to spare… As society races ahead, there is constant pressure to keep up. And, honestly, I don’t think anyone truly is able to in a healthy way.
So are we all doomed to live stressed and depressed? No. I believe that there is hope for us. You may seem tired of people inserting God into your situation, but life without Him in any situation is not going to be healthy for long.
God is as interested in your rest as He is in anything else. I have found a whole lot of truth about God’s heart for us. Here are two things that I realised about myself in the past few weeks when it comes to rest:
1. I’ve been living overstimulated
Now this is mainly with regards to my time off. However crazy your responsibilities are throughout your week (and weekend), it’s the time you have to yourself that can truly determine how healthy you are mentally and emotionally. If I am spending all of my downtime watching series while on Instagram and responding to emails, I am definitely not resting. I have realised that resting well normally means shutting off anything that has a screen. It may seem impossible to you. But just try half an hour. You will find yourself way more in touch with reality and your state emotionally, physically, and even spiritually.
2. I’m a control freak
I found myself complaining about how busy I was. I started getting stressed during my time off about the fact that I had so little time to rest. My internal language sounded very much like I was a victim to my circumstances, and I became one as a result. I have never met a well-rested victim… If you are struggling with your situation, repeating your frustrations will only make you more frustrated. I realised this one day when I read that Jesus is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul. That means He is the one that is concerned about how I am handling life. The moment I stopped trying to control my time and give it to God, I found I was able to trust God enough to truly rest. Fear is normally the root of all control issues. It is when you are afraid that you try to make sure things don’t happen the way you dread they will. But with God there is no place for fear. The more time I spend with Him, the more relaxed I am truly becoming.
I hope that what I have learnt can help you as well. The truth is, I actually don’t know how I manage to do all that I do. Aside from writing two blogs a week, I work as the Assistant Music Director at a school, volunteer in three areas at church every week, and moonlight as a voiceover artist. Without God I would be a mess. And the moment I start trying to do things on my own is when I am most aware of how incapable I am. But I am living what I am called to do. We are all called to live expansive, big lives. We can do what we are passionate about and chase our dreams to their fullest. We can live on the edge of our abilities and stretch ourselves to the limit while still being healthy inwardly. The secret is, we can only do it with Jesus looking after us all the way. If you would like to know Him, click on the link below. It is the best decision you could make!