Breaking Busy: Find Peace & Purpose in the Crazyনমুনা

You may have read the Scripture about considering the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:28); how they grow beautifully, but don’t worry about from where their next ray of sunshine is coming. They just grow, day in, day out, sitting there being beautiful under God’s watchful control and provision. And I’ll be straight up with you - I want to be a lily. I want to sit right out there in that field, planted in great soil, soaking up the rays and the rain.

And I’d be a lily if it weren’t for one thing. I worry about the future. 

I get it. I’m not supposed to worry about the future, but I do. Worry is my best attempt to control the future. And when I say it like that, I recognize the point of that Scripture about the lilies of the field. The flowers aren’t worrying about their future because it’s futile. The flowers are beautiful because they trust God for their provision, and he provides. 

Fear is a very powerful beast, and the more we give in to the things we are afraid of, the more power our fear has in our lives. We can quote Scripture and tell ourselves all the right things about fear, but until we actually discover the source of our fear and deal with it, we will continue to give it power over us.

Romans 12:2 tells us:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

I love this verse for two reasons. We must take control of our fearful thoughts (which requires discovering their source) and transform the way we think about them. And then there is that beautiful promise: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

The weapons we fight anxious thoughts with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 teaches us:

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 

For me, the busyness of life, the hamster wheel of trying to perform and “be good enough” (whatever that even means), kept me constantly spinning in a cycle of worry and anxiety. In turn, this cycle increased my striving, my need to do more, to accomplish more, to be more. 

But when I take control of my worry and fight my fearful thoughts with the divine power of Christ, I am able to slow down, step out of living a crazy busy life and find my peace in living purposefully at the pace to which God has called me. Fear fuels busyness. Peace leads us to our purpose.

Action Step: 

Identify a destructive thought pattern you have that keeps you spinning in cycles of worry and anxiety. Does this thought pattern line up with God’s word? 

Prayer:

Lord, I no longer want to let my fears keep me spinning in cycles of anxious busyness. Instead, teach me to recognize and reject fear and worry. Help me to rest in your truth. Lead me to peace, trusting in you for all I need. Amen.