Have you ever heard the saying, "we are human beings, not human doings?" Do you ever feel like a human doing instead of a human being?
I can defiantly be a doer! Sometimes my world can feel out of control with all the things I am trying to do. While I enjoy being productive expecting too much of myself can be very overwhelming. Have you ever felt the expectations of others for you to get things done? We can very easily become overwhelmed and resent the expectations of others that we will simply ‘get it done’! In those times the weight of expectation on our shoulders and it feels very heavy indeed.
We can reason with ourselves and say, “if I don’t do it, it won’t happen” but that doesn't ease the burden and business of doing, doing, doing. Did you notice something when you got up this morning and looked out the window? God had arranged for the sun to rise. He had called the birds to sing and new blossoms to burst forth into life and we didn’t have to do a thing!
God does so much for us every day and most of the time we take it for granted. We are so focused on the things we are doing that we can easily miss what God does for us every minute of every day.
God does things for us that we simply can’t do. He makes the sunrise and set. He paints the sky with a wonderful pallet of colour. He keeps the world spinning. God also sent His Son so that we can be completely free from the eternal consequences of sin and death. We could never have done that!
I feel so grateful for Jesus when I read back in the OT about all the sacrifices and procedures the Israelites had to make to atone for their sins, Leviticus 11 onwards. The Israelites had to stay out of the camp till the purifying process was over then, if they sinned again, they would be back out of the camp to begin the process again. Man, if that was me I would have got nothing done because I would have spent all my time outside of the camp!
We are so blessed in the fact that there are many things we don’t have to do because God had already done it:
We don’t have to fear death as we can look forward to eternity with Him, Romans 8:1-2.
We don’t have to save ourselves as Jesus saved us long before we were born, Ephesians 2:8-9.
We don’t have to impress Him to earn His love as His love is not dependent on what we do, Romans 8:35.
We don’t have to be someone we’re not as He loves us just the way we are, Romans 5:8.
If you are in a season where you feel there is so much you have to do, why not take the time to reflect on God and all the things He has done that you don’t have to do. Every breath we take is a gift from God.
Why not prioritise the things that you have to do and what you can simply let go of. You may be surprised at how things turn out without us being involved. Then you can find comfort and rest in the fact that you don’t have to do everything!
Lord, Thank You for all You do for me every minute of every day. Thank You for sunrises and sunsets and for every breath that I take. Please help me to prioritise my time. Show me what to take on and what to leave. Thank You that I can come to You and find rest. Thank You for sending Jesus to do what I could never do. Amen
If you want to read more posts like this one, read my Hearing Voices or Narrow Doors posts. Check out more content on the Abiding Providence website.
