Something my old therapist used to tell me often was to study the word “at ease/rest” in Scripture. He would accompany this tidbit with a long, deep sigh that somehow I always echoed.
As someone who struggles with anxiety, perfectionism, and, as Lin-Manuel Miranda put it, “I’m not throwing away my shot!”-ness, I desperately want to feel at ease. As we’ve already chatted about, I struggle with feeling like I need to be the perfect Christian (which is truly just being like Jesus ((ok but even that can feel SO nebulous. Maybe more on that in another post))). It can be really difficult for me to feel “at ease.” Sometimes I feel guilty for being “at ease.” It’s like I feel I was created to be a human DOing. So, if you’re anything like me, here are a few Scriptures that can help alleviate that being “at ease” guilt.
1 Corinthians 7: 32: I want you to be free from anxieties.
Matthew 11:28: Come to Me and I will give you rest.
Psalm 4:8: In peace will I lie down and sleep, for You alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 127:2: In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat–for He gives sleep to those He loves.
He gives sleep. He gives rest. He wants us to be at ease. I like to think that last verse is not that God gives us the ability to sleep each night (I mean, yes, but not like He sometimes gives it and sometimes doesn’t re: insomniacs), but rather that he gives sleep to us, rest really, being at ease, as a gift. He desires us to be “at ease.”
Does that relieve me of the hustle? Probably not, but it does help alleviate the guilt when I’m not “accomplishing something.” Constantly hustling maybe wasn’t ever the way we were supposed to live. Idk.
Drop me your favorite verse that gives you “ease.”
