Easy Like Sunday Morning

Location: My Back Deck
Romans 11:36 (NIV)

"For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen"
​(Rom. 11:36, NIV).

I was sitting on my deck for my morning stillness. Usually I sit with scripture from the daily office and mediate on it for 10-15 minutes in silence. However, this particular morning, I decided to do a body check in where I discern what emotions I’m feeling and why. On this particular morning, I felt tightness in my chest and I traced it back to feelings of not feeling fully loved. I started pondering this and wondered how I could stop relying on external factors to feel love and rather feel God’s love fully and in turn, love myself. (After all, you can’t love your neighbor as yourself if you don’t love yourself!)

But then all of a sudden I felt a tidal wave of shame wash over me. I felt guilty for not sitting with my scripture that morning. I started thinking how bad of a Christian I was and how I shouldn’t be writing devotions on scripture if I’m not sitting with scripture!

Then, I started wondering why I felt such shame. I was pondering how to sit fully in God’s love after all! And the verse came to me, Romans 11:36, all things are "from him and through him and for him...” (NIV). If all things come from God, then of course I can sit in God’s presence and experience God however God comes to me. If it’s through scripture, great! If it’s through a body check in- great! I felt released from the legalism I had been trained to feel in my religious background and embraced the freedom of finding God in all things. 

"If all things come from God, then of course I can sit in God’s presence and experience God however God comes to me."

I wonder if you’ve ever gone through something similar. Have you ever been burned out by your religious to-do list? Do you feel guilty if you’re not wanting to check all the spiritual boxes for that week? Do you get jealous of people who can relate to the song “Easy like Sunday morning” and not cringe at how stressful early Sunday mornings for you were growing up? (or maybe still are?!)

And I know not everyone can relate to a rigid religious upbringing- but maybe you can relate to feeling like you have to be the perfect mom, the perfect friend, an exemplar employee, or a hustling entrepreneur. There are so many boxes to check to “make it” or be “successful” and we often get worn out of trying to measure up. 

If this is you today, I want you to know that there is freedom in Christ. Jesus says his burden is light (Matt. 11:30), not heavy to weigh you down with longer to-do lists. I’m not advocating laziness, but I’m advocating a new way to experience the freedom of God. Finding God in all things, at all times, for God’s glory.

Let's pray: Gracious God, give us eyes to see you, ears to hear you, and hearts to know you. Amen. 

Reflect: ​What are the ways you experience God in your everyday interactions, nature, your house, your office, etc.? How might you find ways to cultivate more of an awareness of God's presence?