When I was growing up, I always thought that a life of ease was the best way to live. Rich beyond measure, wanting for nothing, having houses anywhere you wanted and hundreds of acres of land at each spot. But when I got a pension from the Army that was enough to support me as a single man with no mortgage on a cheap budget, I realized I didn't enjoy doing nothing all day anymore. It seemed nice when I had a job - just sitting all day and bathing in ease.
Back when I was drinking, I would binge drink on my days off because it made me feel like I was enjoying myself more. I thought that having as much fun as possible all the time no matter what was the only way to be happy. But that was a falsehood propagated by movies and popular culture. "The world," in the Bible's terminology. According to Jesus and the Bible's authors, the World is something we should be separate from. We should not enjoy the things that people of the world enjoy. And even if we did partake in the "life of ease" goal that most people have today, we would soon realize our aimlessness and the complete lack of fulfillment that a life of ease brings. Why do you think incredibly rich people medicate themselves with drugs and alcohol? A Life of ease does not bring a life of joy.
Doing whatever you feel like all day with no rules is not the way to live life. In my life, it led to alcoholism, debauchery, depression, and suicidal thoughts. When we wander far from God's purpose for us in favor of worshipping the god of ease, we are truly committing idolatry. If the whole goal of our lives is to retire and do nothing one day, we will be sorely disappointed when we do retire. Because if spreading God's kingdom is not in our retirement plans, we will have no fulfillment. If we just plan to live a life of ease and doing nothing, we will become depressed and probably start medicating with food, drugs, or alcohol. Even filling our lives with retirement activities (golf, traveling, etc.) will not bring us fulfillment. These things will never satisfy. They will be fun at first, then quickly lose their luster. If we don't truly long for God's heart, we need to reexamine our lives, because we will forever be unhappy if that's the case. The one true purpose of life is to eventually be totally united with Jesus and the Father in heaven, and we can start that in this life.
Let me confess: I have big issues with temptation from the god of ease. I worked hard in grade school because I thought I could get into a good college, get rich, and retire early. Then I would be happy forever. Right? I worked my tail off in high school in pursuit of the same goal. There's nothing wrong with my hard work, but I only did it because of my covetous goal. I got into a top tier college and worked my way through. I graduated and was sorely disappointed. I still had to work hard. I wanted the life of ease that the World promised would make me happy. I wanted the World's dream, the American dream, right away. So when a sequence of events happened that led to early retirement from the Army, even though the circumstances weren't ideal, I thought that I would finally be happy. I would just live easy, maybe move to another country in the tropics and be at ease forever. What I didn't realize was that God had long ago planned to rescue me from this terrible dream.
God set in sequence another series of events that led me straight to Him, begging Him for what I needed. Not because He's grandiose, but because He cares for me. I have finally found what I sought for so long: happiness. Contentment. And it is in God, living and walking in His Spirit. Spending time in prayer and a lot of time in worship with Him. I feel a supernatural contentment from the Holy Spirit. I feel the one thing I thought I had to earn: rest. I finally feel rest in Him. Rest from the worries that I drank away, rest from the depression that crippled me, rest from the PTSD that is still being healed. It all melts away when we seek rest in the Holy Spirit of God.
Seek, and we will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. I find rest amidst challenges that would have caused me to scream before. I just remember, "God will get me through this." The world's rest comes at the expense of worshipping God. We may worship the god of covetousness instead. On the contrary, God's rest is based around worshipping Him, and it preserves us throughout the toughest trials.
God is the only antidote to stress. He is the one stress reliever that it's good to be addicted to. If we pray to relieve the stress once and we don't feel relief, there is a reason. It's because He wants more for your life than the absence of stress. So He is asking you to seek Him, to seek the path that He wants you on. How do we do that? Every day, worship and praise Him instead of worshipping other things with our time. We can cut out unhealthy TV shows, frivolous activities that don't give us lasting peace, and other distractions. We as Americans love distracting ourselves as a solution to misery - trust me, I know from experience.
But the solution is the opposite of what we think: the solution is focus, not distraction. Focus on worshipping the God of Peace, reading His Word, and talking to Him. But not just talking. Pouring out your heart, your greatest fears, your greatest anxieties, and giving them to Him. His Spirit will comfort you when you say, "God, I give all my worries to you." And God's Word promises that when you pray persistently, your prayers will be answered. It promises that if you seek, you will find. Seek peace in Jesus, and you will find it, even when the World is tearing itself apart. Only in Christ can we find this peace. Not Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, alcohol, drugs, riches, or a life of ease. Jesus is the one way to fulfillment in life. Trust me, I know from experience.
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