Whether you are:

Trying God for the first time. Learning to have a relationship with God. Becoming a child of God.

Know there is a time and a place for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). What time is it now?

Rest Easy

Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

When was the last time you stilled your heart, body, and mind from the everyday woes that seem never-ending?

If you can't remember, take a break and pause—Selah.
Use this moment to be still.
Breathe deeply. Allow your lungs to fill to capacity with fresh air, and release.

Being still can mean resting, stretching, and massaging any tension in your body, emotions, and mind. Let the essence of you refill as you cater to your needs. Gauge how you feel at this very moment. Remember the focused feeling of centering yourself.

Day-to-day activities can distract us from being centered at 100% ourselves. Every taxing moment slowly drains us. It is important to find grounding techniques that help you maintain or return to the optimal version of yourself or your future self. There are many grounding techniques—breathing, meditating, stretching, and more—all created to anchor you in peace while navigating through a chaotic world.

Guard Your Peace

The chaotic energy is easy to absorb if you are not also centered in the peace of God. If you do not carry His peace within your heart, chaos, anger, sadness, jealousy, and lust can take over the terrain of your heart and mind. Any emotion you choose will compel you to lose control. Keep your peace by refusing to allow every interaction to throw off your blissful groove. In life we will consistently face various challenging interactions: choose peace, and your response will not miss a beat. This is the same peace Paul described that surpasses all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

For example, a car pulls out in front of you as you are flying above the speed limit. You can choose to blare on your horn and curse them out for a mile or two. OR you can choose to thank God for protecting you with the Holy Spirit's nudge to your intuition that the car was about to pull out in front of your vehicle, and you should slow down.

Rest and Reset

Perhaps you know that the Holy Spirit is also pushing you to start or complete an assignment that God has for you. However, your untidy, messy, or dirty home is blocking your will to start. What would you choose in that moment?

• Do nothing, because it all feels overwhelming.

• Organize and clean your living area, so your burdens feel lighter. Or,

• Start on the assignment, because if you don't start today, you may never.

Whatever your choice is, we need to release the sense of being overwhelmed. If you are stressed or feeling ill, make sure you rest. God made the Sabbath day holy, calling us to labor for six days and rest on the seventh, keeping it set apart for Him (Exodus 20:8-11). Start making one day a week your Sabbath—meaning you do no work and participate in holy activities. Just as importantly, monitor how you're feeling. If the assessment has rough results, see a doctor. You only live as well as you feel. At times it is okay to do nothing as you rest your body back to health. Just don't stay stuck at the resting stage.

If your living space feels overwhelming, start with one section at a time. Complete it, then move to the next, until you can see the transformation. As your living areas clear out, your mind will feel clearer too—for God is a God of order, not confusion, and all things are meant to be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Organizing Your Life

Just as clutter in your home can cloud your mind, clutter in your life can cloud your calling. Take inventory—not just of your rooms, but of your routines, relationships, and responsibilities. Is there a commitment draining you that God never asked you to carry? A habit taking up space that no longer serves who you're becoming? A grudge or worry you've been storing instead of releasing?

Approach this the same way you would a messy room: one section at a time.

• Assess: What is one area of your life—your schedule, your circle, your thought patterns—that feels cluttered right now?

• Reset: What is one small, honest step you can take this week to clear it, even slightly?

• Do your best: Give yourself permission to make progress, not perfection.

You don't have to overhaul your entire life in a day. Just as a single organized shelf can make a whole room feel lighter, a single reset in your life—a boundary set, a habit adjusted, a prayer finally prayed—can make your whole spirit feel lighter too. It is okay to rest. It is okay to reset the mess. It is okay to simply do your best today.

Your Assignment

Now that you have shown God gratitude for rest and for clear living spaces, show Him gratitude for your time as well. In the Frame of Providence blog post, you learned that the insistent natural ability you have is your calling. There is an assignment with your name on it that only you can complete, so take time to make progress toward your goal to make Him proud. Whether it is cleaning, organizing, reading to children, caring for animals, or simply greeting a neighbor, make a good attempt at it. Live your life righteously and diligently. Take progress in stride. It helps to break the tasks down into Can Do steps—meaning, "What can I do today?". Then celebrate your achievements.

Rest in His Wings

The life God wants you to live is light and easy. In your own power, it may seem impossible, but walk with the Lord in every step of your journey, and you will feel the weight lift with every step you take alongside Him. (Warning: the moment you believe you no longer need to walk with or consult God is the exact moment that lightness begins to fade. Life will still have its challenges, but God is there to carry you when you feel like you cannot go on.)

In the times of struggle, chaos, danger, and uncertainty, rest easy in the wings of the Lord: "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge" (Psalm 91:4).

In His wings you will find compassion. In His wings you will find peace. In His wings you will find rest.

Everything that once seemed inconceivable or difficult will suddenly make perfect sense. Continuously pray to God to help and guide you, and you will see every step fall into place.

Give yourself the grace you need to assess, rest, reset the mess, and do your best. Now you can complete the assignment God gave you. Be still and rest, then remain on the path God has set before you. Your destiny awaits.