Presented by Julie Busteed
Are you the kind of person who would rather do everything yourself than delegate or ask for help? I can be that way sometimes. It’s not because I think I can do everything better than everyone else. Sometimes it’s a control issue. Other times it simply feels like more work to explain the task, ask for help, and trust someone else to follow through.
As I’ve thought about that, I’ve realized I sometimes treat my relationship with God the same way. Without even realizing it, I start acting as though everything depends on me and my effort, my planning, my ability to keep checking things off the list. And before long, I’m exhausted because I’m striving in my own strength instead of depending on his.
As I’ve been learning to develop healthier rhythms that aren’t centered only on work and productivity, God has been showing me something. I wasn’t created to carry everything myself. More than anything, I need to trust him. I’m finite. He is not. I have limits. He doesn’t.
One of my favorite passages is maybe a familiar one to you—Proverbs 3:5–6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Those verses raise some honest questions for me.
Do I really trust him in every area of my life? Or am I quietly depending on my own abilities, my own plans, my own resources? Do I truly believe he will lead me? That he has good purposes for today and for my future?
Notice what the passage doesn’t say. It doesn’t tell me to figure everything out or make every path straight myself. It simply says to trust him and submit to him. That’s incredibly freeing. When I humble myself before God, remember his promises, and surrender my plans to him, I don’t have to carry the weight of being in control. I can rest in him. He already knows my limitations. He never expected me to do everything or carry every burden on my own.
So how do we live this out? It’s one day at a time. Really, one moment at a time. It’s choosing to seek him throughout the day instead of relying only on ourselves. And it’s choosing to set aside one day each week to stop striving. To let go of the unfinished work. To trust him with everything waiting for us next week.
Sabbath rest becomes an act of trust.
It’s where our minds, emotions, and bodies are refreshed. It’s where we stop toiling long enough to remember that God is still at work, even when we aren’t.