Can you relate to the stress of the running to do list?
The other day, I tuned in to what was going on in my head… which was, to be honest, stressing me out.
A running to do list!
Pressure about what I needed to get done.
Worry about upcoming jobs that felt a bit difficult to do.
I ended up going for a walk to clear my head, and praying through what was going on. The Lord calmed me, and He’s being helping me to process things a bit. And I thought I’d write it out, in the hope that it might bless you, too!
I’m beginning to notice it, especially on days when I’m working at home: the low-level background worry, the quiet stressing, and the tyranny of the to do list. And I don’t think the Lord means me to have all that running in my head!
So here are some helpful thoughts in response to the tyranny of the do list…
Pressuring myself to get things done doesn’t actually help. It just stresses me out!
Maybe being a calm, faithful, consistent tortoise could be a lot more powerful for the way God made me than being an unrealistic hare1 who wears herself out!
I am God’s child through Christ (and you can be, too- you can find out more here). He is on my side. When I get to that task, God will give grace for it. He will help me and I can be confident that He will.
So maybe I can calm down, take a deep breath, prayerfully lean on the Lord and just do what I can right now.
Just do what God has placed in front of me right now.
Take a deep breath, lean on the Lord and just be faithful with what God has put in front of me.
I don’t need to live in fear of not getting everything done. Sure, I believe the Lord wants me to work hard: not to earn anything (I know Jesus did that already for all who will repent and believe- you can find out more here), but for His Kingdom and His glory. But not to worry about it!
God doesn’t expect me to do more than is possible.
And anyway, Christ’s righteousness is mine.
In Christ, it will be okay.
Habits and routines are helpful. But it’s ok if I don’t always get to them.
If I don’t get it done, there will be provision and grace. God will have a plan for that too.
So maybe it’s not necessary to live in quiet pressure and over-trying. Maybe calmly, faithfully, intentionally but even happily being a calm, consistent tortoise2 is a good plan!
And I think God will give grace for all the gaps!
And I’m simultaneously realising something else: God is with me. I am forgiven, accepted in Christ, and my Father is on my side (you can find out here how that can be true of you, too). I believe He wants me to be more aware of Him. To believe He is with me. To become more aware of His presence, and enjoy the everyday with Him.
So what if that space in my head could be for something else? Something better?
What if it was for remembering God? For delighting in His presence with me?
Years ago, I had a realisation: a cloud of worry starts with a single thought. And that thought can be replaced before it even grows.
What if God wants to silence the worry in my mind, and replace it with an awareness of His presence?
Because I bet He does.
What if living under the tyranny of the to do list is counterproductive? What if worry is unnecessary and counterproductive?
What if the alternative could replacing the thoughts of fear and anxiety, filling that silence with an awareness of the presence of God? Just peacefully, calmly serving and doing what I can, and enjoying God with me as I do so?
Wow, I think that might actually be powerful! Don’t you?
- (Aesop’s fable is public domain as it has been around so long. An English translation of it is ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’, translation by George Fyler Townsend, 1867) ↩︎
- (Aesop’s fable is public domain as it has been around so long. An English translation of it is ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’, translation by George Fyler Townsend, 1867) ↩︎
Caroline Abblitt 