Occasionally I find myself in a rut of general laziness. Do you ever get to that place? As a homeschooling mom of four little ones I often tell myself that I deserve a much-needed break. Sometimes I say to myself that I’ve earned this time to read for five hours a little while. If I’m being honest, there are days my break times are exceptionally long and my work times exceptionally short. I can easily fall into this trap of allowing myself time to “rest” or telling myself that I’m relaxing, when in reality I’m just wasting time.
Wow! There’s a lot of depth in this proverb. Let’s consider for a moment that we’re looking beyond the obvious overgrowth of thorns and disorder that encompass my home when I’m in my “resting” time. I’d even like to look past the deeper implications this has on my relationship with my husband and my children. Let’s look past my husband’s dissatisfaction when he finds himself scrambling for work clothes through days-old stacks of laundry. Look past the broken hearts of young children whose favorite things have been trod on and broken by scurrying feet that are undisciplined by the keeper of the home. I’d like to look all the way inside my spirit as it sits unattended and unfulfilled during my laziness.
And there it lies, the very scene this proverb spoke of. I see the thorns sprouting and covering over any beauty that once was. I see the weeds poking through, disrupting the order that could still be. The stone wall that Jesus so carefully guided me in erecting around my soul as a veritable fortress is crumbling. Little bits of mortar have flaked off and lie sprinkled across the ground as stones begin to sag in defeat. When this fortress of diligence was left unattended it began to break down. And each day I choose to neglect it in favor of laziness, it crumbles a little more.
Building Back Up
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We are so very blessed to serve a forgiving Savior. Just as a parent continues to guide their child after making the same mistake over again, so the Lord guides us back to Him. The beauty of my relationship with Jesus is that I can repent and be set right immediately.
My dear friend challenged herself, and I challenged myself to use August as a fast against laziness. The premise was simple: As we looked through our days and saw ourselves doing something lazy in place of something useful, we would work to choose the useful thing instead. The very first day that I woke up twenty minutes early and opened my Bible to spend some time with Him, my Savior began to trim back the thorns. Throughout the day as I chose to be diligent in teaching my children the word and how to apply it, He began to pull the weeds. As I went about my work within my home with a happy heart and a soul contented, He gently pushed back the sagging stones and patched up the holes.
The glory of my Savior can radiate through me when I have a firm foundation of discipline and diligence. When I choose the next right thing to do at each turn of the day, I am blessed by my work and by His work through me.
Do you find your diligence slipping in your time with the Lord like I do? Don’t despair! It only takes one right choice to get back on track.
Can we pray for you today?
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So often I think of my lazy moments as “me time” or a well deserved break, as you said. The problem is that when I’m just scrolling my phone for 30 minutes (or longer) or binge watching Netflix during nap time I often don’t feel recharged. In fact I sometimes feel the opposite. Quiet time with the Lord though, that is life giving! Thank you for this great reminder!
I get into those slumps. Just have set goals and get to gettin it done
I especially feel this as a fellow blogger when there are just so many things to attend to and not enough hours in the day! Sometimes when I think of everything I need to accomplish, I just become overwhelmed and do nothing instead. Not ideal.
This is a great reminder!
Absolutely! I definitely struggle with laziness. Social media, Youtube, and Netflix often encompasses most of my day. And occasionally, that’s okay. Sometimes we really do need a day just to breath. But when that turns into the typical day, there is something wrong and we need to repent and change.
I have the opposite problem, which is workaholism. I am asking God to teach me how to rest because I don’t know how, even though I am exhausted. I find rest in being yoked to Christ, but I don’t feel refreshed because I’m continuously working hard.
Definitely takes discernment to tell the difference between rest and laziness. Sometimes I’m not so much lazy as just a little down. Prayer time usually helps.
Really appreciate this post!!! I love that you committed to do with a friend!!! Such a great point to just do the next good thing.
Meaningful and a great reminder… I feel that I’ve been quite lazy the last 2-3 years, and just not seeing the ease the Lord has allowed me (or maybe taking advantage of it)
I easily fall into what I consider laziness as well Rose. Thank you for your honesty! It’s always helpful to have other sisters fighting the fight next to us.
The occasional “me time” can turn into full on laziness if not also used intentionally. Working full-time, blogging, being a wife and a mom of two I think it’s important to take time to restore. But I know if I don’t schedule a designated time limit or parameters it can become a slippery slope. Thank you for the reminder to not let laziness creep in!
Melissa I feel the same way! I really do have to put limits on my time, especially if it is time I have set aside for me.
What has really helped me in this area in producing the fruit of repentance is making a schedule and asking my accountability partner to check in with me. It’s OK if I can’t get my schedule done for a good reason, like my body being so tired that I really need to sleep, but I honestly answer her with how my day wasted or utilized time. She doesn’t ask me every day anymore, but I have to be ready to give an account when she does ask!
An accountability partner is a great idea!
This is so true!! Something I have also learned recently is the importance of resting well which for me doesn’t look like pulling up my phone or lying on the couch the whole day and being lazy.
I agree! True rest is not found easily. It’s something that must be intentional.
I did something similar recently. I removed all the time wasting activities from my life. True rest is also important and Biblical, but even that should be done with intention and purpose.
How do you know the boundaries between actually having time to yourself and being lazy, choosing rest over business for the Lord?