Restlessness, by Will

I really want to learn to be content in all things. I've missed so much of life because my mind was always on the next step. My focus was on the destination, and I overlooked the fact that life is about the journey. My refusal to be content, has resulted in a lot of wasted time, a lot of unrealized blessings, and a lot of ungrateful longing.

I've been frustrated over work and career things. I've been frustrated by relationships. I've been frustrated by life in general. Overall, a large portion of the last decade plus has been one big unsatisfying clump of time that I spent wishing for one thing or another, and finding myself greatly disappointed when things didn't go as I planned or expected them to. Failing at the career path I had felt called to purse, being overlooked for opportunities and jobs, dealing with a divorce, all of those things left me with an unsatisfying and angry attitude that was far from contentment.

I've been restless about a lot of things in my life, in some ways I'm still very restless. I have a hard time sitting still and always feel like I need to be doing something. When there is nothing to do immediately I find myself wasting time on YouTube. The reality is, restlessness is part of life. We weren't made to simply sit by, do nothing, and call it contentment, that sort of thinking is part of what drove me nuts and pushed me to the place I was in. There is a biblical form of restlessness that we are to pursue.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.7-14)

Biblical restlessness is the endless pursuit of Christlikeness. We should always be seeking to gain Christ, always pushing the limits of faith for deeper righteousness, seeking to fully live in the power of His resurrection. We should be restless, refusing to be satisfied with our relationship with Jesus, always pursuing deeper intimacy with Him. I am never to be content with how much I know Jesus, I am never to be content simply in the fact that I have been saved from sin. My goal should be to grow closer to Christ everyday, restlessly pursuing Him, and refusing to give up the chase for as long as I have breath in my lungs.

This sort of restless pursuit is only possible when I have learned to be content with everything else. It is only when I have learned to be satisfied with where God has me in life that I can give up chasing the next thing, and enjoy where He has me as I grow closer to Him, becoming more like Him, so that I can live more for Him.

Learn to be content, so you can restlessly pursue Christ.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!