Restless For God ~ Episode 250
Is your soul restless for God? How can you tell? In this episode, your host, Felice Gerwitz, discusses how we may be unhappy and dissatisfied with life. And she discusses “what” may be missing in our lives.
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When was the last time you prayed, picked up the Bible or just sat in the presence of the Lord and felt relaxed and complete? This happens, yes, but for many of us it is difficult to quiet our minds long enough to hear from the Lord, let alone feel any type of comfort and peace.
Why is this? Why are we restless? Why is it that the minute you pick up your Bible, or focus on a prayer that your mind wanders? You want to jump up and send an email, a text or maybe even fold laundry. Why can’t you just focus?
We can easily lay blame at the enemy’s feet. But there is more than temptation at stake here. And, that is what I’d like you to think about today. Why are you restless? Why are you thinking about all of the things on your to-do list rather than about God?
If we dig deeper we can add the following questions to the list, why are we dissatisfied? Why do we think there has to be something more? Or, that we are not doing enough or not pleasing God for the other side of the equation.
I found myself restless not that long ago and I had to take a hard look at the questions I just posed for you. Part of my restlessness stemmed from a lack of control over my life situations. I was unable to fix things or make things right. I was in fact required to place all of my cares into the hands of a loving and waiting for God. Yet, I was too upset and frustrated to stop and do the very thing I knew would bring me relief.
I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders, and in the midst of prayer, I was in the trenches so to speak not wanting to give up one tiny bit of ground to the growing chasm in my soul. That may sound melodramatic but it is true. I felt lost and I felt forsaken.
When we are in the depths of despair there is only one place to look and that is up. We can turn to the right and left but nothing but God will bring us the peace we crave. I knew this in my mind. Like many of you listening I spend time in prayer and stand in the gap so to speak for family members and friends in need. While my faith is strong that does not mean that my faith doesn’t falter in battle. Truly when we are in deep prayer we are in a battle, often for souls. Faith is a gift and while we accept it freely it comes with responsibility. However, that does not mean we take on the cares of the world to the detriment of our own well-being.
I realized that I could not carry the burden of praying for others on my own shoulders and I had to release them to the Almighty only then did I hear a whisper in my mind that said, “I never expected you to carry this burden – it was not for you to carry.” And, then relief as if a weight was taken off my back.
We can only be happy when we are with God not only in our prayers but in releasing our will to His perfect will. Our world is looking for happiness and pleasure in all of the wrong places. We know this, but we are only human.
Psalm 73: 23- 26 [Read on air.] Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
When we are stuck we can go to the Scriptures and find relief. When we are stuck we realize that nothing, nothing will satisfy us but the love of God. Perhaps you can’t feel that love or you feel you are unworthy (news alert: we are all unworthy except for the saving power of Jesus Christ). But if you know it in your head, ask the Lord to feel it in your heart.
John 6:27 reminds us of the fact that while we feel that restlessness and we look for a solution to our problem we look in places that will not give us rest or happiness. [Read on air.] Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
What is the root cause of the restlessness we feel? Do you know? For each of us this answer may be different, but for most of us, the solution is the same.
Have you heard the saying, You have made us for yourself, O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. This is a quote from Saint Augustine which he writes in his Confessions. (More of the quote here and here.) Our hearts long for God because we were made (our spirits and souls) in the image of God. We were created as we learned as young children to love and honor Him, and when we don’t we flounder.
Our hearts and in essence, our spirits and souls will only rest when we rest in God. We crave this love that we are missing in our lives and therefore we become restless. Psalm 116:7 sums it up perfectly in a few words: Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Until we realize that our restless is because of our desire to know God better, to have a deeper communion with Him, a deeper relationship with Him, and only then can we feel that satisfaction that comes from the Lord who is always waiting with open arms. If you read the life of Augustine you will find that a great sinner converted to Christianity many believe due to the prayers of his mother (which gives all parents out there hope for their children). His story is one of redemption and grace and it is a story not only for him but for all of us.
This week examine the restlessness in your life, and determine to make a change, a change in your relationship with God which is always a change for the better! May God be blessed today and always.
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