“Presh-uh. Pushing down on me. Pushing down on you. Oh oh oh oh.” That’s the only line I really remember from that song. And now you’ll probably hum it all day. You’re welcome. But it’s appropriate for my periodic-mental-mantra these days, especially when faced with so much that seems to be undone.
Unopened emails. Unfolded clothes. Unchecked boxes. Ungrateful hearts. Un.Done.
But undone will be the norm as long as we walk on this planet.
The truth is that most pressure to live with life and checklists “all done” comes from within. Most of the pressure we feel is put on us by us in efforts to find peace from something or someone other than our God.
Granted, sometimes external pressures do weigh down because life happens or people make demands. But ultimately we get to choose our soul-stance, even when people and situations and lists are incomplete.
I go back to this place of truth a lot. Because it’s too easy to fall into the trap of “more”. But Jesus lived peaceably out of intimacy with the Father, even in the midst of undone hearts and undone tasks.
He walked purposefully in the things prepared for Him to do, one step at a time, while communing continually, intimately, and purposefully with the Father. And all that needed to get done got done.
Needed.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
That leads me to the Glorious Grace study this week. We were in Ephesians 2:1-10 and when we took a day to look for commands from the text, there was only one. Just one command: Walk. Walk in the good things that God already prepared for me (and you) to do. Everything else from the text is alllll God does for us and in us through Christ.
That means I don’t have to manipulate circumstance or bulldoze over hearts because time is running short. That means that I keep bringing my heart’s eyes back to Him in the moments of today and simply walk in the things He has for me, and only the things He has for me, trusting Him with the process.
It doesn’t mean that when I lay my head on the pillow tonight everything will be done from my perspective. But God sees with eternal eyes. He sees the end result. And He knows where we’re going.
So often I wrestle for contentment in the process. When lists or relationships are still messy and incomplete, I struggle for the peace He intends.
But because we’re on this side of Jesus coming back, there will always always always be things that aren’t done. Always. Because everything and everyone is in process. And the soul victory comes when we learn what it means to rest in Him…even with a mound of unfolded laundry staring us down.
Fill me, Lord…
How do you personally rest in His peace even in the midst of the undone?
I don’t know that I really rest in the peace of the undone as much as I try to ignore it to keep myself from going crazy. Then I have days when I go hard to do as much as possible. This is a much better perspective. I tell myself that God gives us enough time to do everything He has for us, but it doesn’t often calm my to-do list anxiety.
I despise the to-do list anxiety. Whenever I feel it creepin’ up I have to do what we always talk about: take each and every thought captive to what’s true. Yes, I may still have stuff to do. But I don’t think God intends for us to live stressed out and anxious. I know He doesn’t. (Yet He’s so gracious when I do. Gracious to draw me back to Himself — the Source of peace.) Hugs to you friend.
One thing that has become clear in this life of balancing the tyranny of the to do list is that God provides for me in all things. I often look back and find DONE, what I thought was not going to happen. It wasn’t on my time table but His. And the things that didn’t get done lost their urgency when I trusted Him to help me get through. Practicing thanking Him for provision in advance has been a sweet way to deepen my trust in God with all things.
“Practicing thanking Him for provision in advance.” Beautiful. It’s so true. I love this insight. When we focus our heart and mind on Him, seeking wisdom for our moments and lists, He really does help us guard our time. Thanks for commenting, Karen.