Brush Your Teeth!
My husband and I have a lot in common, but we definitely have our differences. I believe the one that frustrates me the most is his miraculous ability to fall asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow at night. Meanwhile, I lay there for a good 30 minutes to give myself time for racing thoughts and additions to my mental to-do list.
The other night, he was so tired from work that he crawled in the bed without changing clothes or brushing his teeth. He never goes to bed without brushing his teeth. He knew that at some point he was going to have to leave the warm bed to finish his bedtime routine. The longer he laid there, the harder it was for him to convince himself to get up. Finally, I said, “You are going to have to get up and ruin your “fake, temporary rest” so that you can brush your teeth and enjoy REAL rest!” He continued laying there until he worked up the courage on his own, but the statement I made still struck a chord with me. It became clear that God was trying to show me something.
How many times have I crawled into my own comfort zone, ignoring the fact that I need to “brush my teeth”?
What can fake and temporary rest look like in our lives? Conforming to the world’s ways is the number one form of fake and temporary rest. Many of us are trying to find rest in the wrong places: social media, video games, extravagant vacations, alcohol, medications, over-eating, under-eating, the list goes on. We live in a generation that views rest as a product, not a gift from God. The problem is that when we crawl in bed with those things, we never truly receive rest. You could say that we still have broccoli in our teeth. We have objects, habits, or “hobbies” that are hindering us from receiving God’s true rest.
Let’s look at scripture to guide us in the right direction:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” — Hebrews 12:1–2a (NIV)
From my Bible plan by Nicky Gumbel: “It is no good thinking you can live a holy life and hang on to just a little bit of sin in your life. ‘Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field… Get down on your knees before the Master,’ God does not leave us there. Getting down on our knees is the way to get back on our feet!” (includes pieces from James 4:8–10 MSG)
“Practically everything that goes on in the world — wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important — has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out — but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.” — 1 John 2:16–17 (MSG)
Basically, John is telling us to brush our spiritual teeth. What is hindering you from being closer to God? What is entangling you that makes you feel exhausted or like you’re drowning? What blinders are in the way that are keeping your eyes from being fixed on Jesus?
For me, social media hinders my relationship with God and others. I get wrapped up in looking at other people’s lives, and I forget how precious mine is. The longer I look at the world, the harder it is for me to see Jesus. There is nothing about social media that brings me closer to God. There is nothing on social media that can replace time with my Heavenly Father himself. There are endless opportunities on social media for Satan to whisper lies, get me to compare myself to others, and get my focus away from Jesus. It’s time for me to brush my teeth. For me, that looks like deleting my social media accounts. Tomorrow, it could be something new that the Holy Spirit points out to me. Brushing our physical and spiritual teeth is a daily routine.
I’m ready to get rid of one form of fake rest. Now, God can give me REAL rest! Check the mirror, is there broccoli in your teeth?
