Relax. Take It Easy. Really?

Proverbs 1: 33 MSG  "First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy--you're in good hands

• Isaiah 32:17 (NIV) The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.


• Luke 8:15 (NIV) But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.


• Phil 4:6-7 (NLT) Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

So, you want to relax? Do a Goggle search on "relax" and your eyes will be opened to all the possibilities for learning how to relax. There's music. Quieting videos. Unique DVDs. Special cassettes. Spectacular CDs. You name it. Someone will sell you something to help you relax. Amazing the number of Internet sites devoted to just the concept of relaxing.

Chapter one of Proverbs says there is a simple method that will provide what you need to learn to relax. Doing life right. Right living - you know, be righteous. Practice righteousness. And this is something that you plant, nurture, grow and it produces fruit. And how is this done? Wisdom says (that is who is speaking in verse 33) listen to her. And this hearing demands of us the discipline to read and meditate on the words of Wisdom. Practicing righteousness is not a mystery - it is a discipline of being absorbed with God - hearing the Word, retaining it and preserving. The result. Living a relaxed life.

Being God-absorbed - seems like it should be very simple, doesn't it? But notice the beginning of that verse: "first pay attention to me..." It should not be, but that is the hard part. Just how do we listen to God? It certainly is not the way we normally "listen" to someone next to us, speaking. It is more like "hearing the voice" of a parent, or a close mentor, when you say something or are about to do something. But it's not just that, either. It is a process of reading, meditating, praying and being aware that God does speak to us in our thoughts, in images He brings to our mind, and in verses of scripture that suddenly arise in our thinking. Listening. It is a type of listening that becomes a conversation with God. A communication that is better experienced then described. The result is not more money, more power, and more prestige. It is relaxation. Taking it easy. Resting in the good hands that only God - not Allstate - provides.

The key as I see it is to (as Paul says) "live in Christ Jesus." The "absorbed with God" decision.  So absorbed that no matter if wars rage, if the economy falls flat, if sickness ravages the family or me, if the business falls apart, I can relax. I can live without anxiety. Easy words to write. Much harder to do. And the reason? I think it so much easier to be self-absorbed. It's my nature. I suspect that it might be yours, too.

Self-absorbed equals anxiety. God-absorbed equals relaxation. The choice should be clear.

Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell