Restlessness Turned Into Greatness
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Ever heard of Saint Augustine of Hippo? If so, you might be familiar with this famous quote of his from "St. Augustine's Confessions" in which he shares his heart and relationship with the Lord with us.
All I can say is, wow. Our hearts are restless until we rest in the Son. God has given us all we could ever need, and yet, we still search for more. I don't know about you, but I'm constantly struggling to rest and be still, especially when it comes to my faith and relationship with Christ.
We live in a world where we always want more. More money, more clothes, more followers on Instagram, but we often forget to be satisfied right where the Lord has us. We think that by gaining all of this materialistic stuff, we'd somehow be happier. But deep down we know that this junk that fills our lives makes us restless, and in all honestly, kind of selfish.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we're selfish human beings with no respect for those around us. Not at all. What I'm saying is we try to fill our hearts with worldly things to feel a sense of peace and restfulness when all we're really missing is the desire to be rested, rooted in Christ.
Last year was hard. If any of you encountered me at all last school year, I probably seemed off to you. I was. I was so off. So many worldly things were in my life that were useless and I was fighting God on all of them. I thought by keeping these things in my life, they'd truly center me and help keep me at peace. The Mary Kathryn Ahlberg that once was around was gone and even I was searching to find her. My heart was so uneasy.
After taking this summer in Texas to contemplate and think about what happened and what made me feel the way I did, I still haven't found the answer. But one thing I did find was inner peace and an authentic joy in the Lord that I had been missing all year.
Truth be told, I may never know what happened. And that's alright. God mended and healed my heart and helped me rest in Him and his love. I spent a lot of my free time in the chapel instead of the office, I had interactions with people I didn't think I'd click with that helped me heal, and even had campers teach me how to be still in the moment. Jesus knew I needed healing and he helped me through it.
Our hearts truly are restless until we rest in His. If you're fighting God, stop. What's the worse that could happen? You're rested and at peace for once? Sounds pretty nice to me. This transition isn't something that will happen overnight. All things that are of value take time to achieve. Stay patient and keep moving forward.
Friends, you are worth far more than this world. Everything here on Earth isn't worth all of the tension and knots in your heart. You don't need it to thrive. Internal restlessness is frustrating, but I encourage you to re-center your purpose here in this world. Lean on Christ, because he's the only one that can calm your soul.
Ever heard of Saint Augustine of Hippo? If so, you might be familiar with this famous quote of his from "St. Augustine's Confessions" in which he shares his heart and relationship with the Lord with us.
All I can say is, wow. Our hearts are restless until we rest in the Son. God has given us all we could ever need, and yet, we still search for more. I don't know about you, but I'm constantly struggling to rest and be still, especially when it comes to my faith and relationship with Christ.
We live in a world where we always want more. More money, more clothes, more followers on Instagram, but we often forget to be satisfied right where the Lord has us. We think that by gaining all of this materialistic stuff, we'd somehow be happier. But deep down we know that this junk that fills our lives makes us restless, and in all honestly, kind of selfish.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we're selfish human beings with no respect for those around us. Not at all. What I'm saying is we try to fill our hearts with worldly things to feel a sense of peace and restfulness when all we're really missing is the desire to be rested, rooted in Christ.
Last year was hard. If any of you encountered me at all last school year, I probably seemed off to you. I was. I was so off. So many worldly things were in my life that were useless and I was fighting God on all of them. I thought by keeping these things in my life, they'd truly center me and help keep me at peace. The Mary Kathryn Ahlberg that once was around was gone and even I was searching to find her. My heart was so uneasy.
After taking this summer in Texas to contemplate and think about what happened and what made me feel the way I did, I still haven't found the answer. But one thing I did find was inner peace and an authentic joy in the Lord that I had been missing all year.
Truth be told, I may never know what happened. And that's alright. God mended and healed my heart and helped me rest in Him and his love. I spent a lot of my free time in the chapel instead of the office, I had interactions with people I didn't think I'd click with that helped me heal, and even had campers teach me how to be still in the moment. Jesus knew I needed healing and he helped me through it.
Our hearts truly are restless until we rest in His. If you're fighting God, stop. What's the worse that could happen? You're rested and at peace for once? Sounds pretty nice to me. This transition isn't something that will happen overnight. All things that are of value take time to achieve. Stay patient and keep moving forward.
Friends, you are worth far more than this world. Everything here on Earth isn't worth all of the tension and knots in your heart. You don't need it to thrive. Internal restlessness is frustrating, but I encourage you to re-center your purpose here in this world. Lean on Christ, because he's the only one that can calm your soul.
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