Restlessness

I was asked earlier this month to write  a post on restlessness and as is normally the case with things like that I say yes right away and than forget about it for a few weeks. Well it's been a few weeks and I spent sometime earlier today thinking about. So now is as good a time as any to write about it. 

There seems to be two types of restlessness. The first would be an absence of God and the second would be the struggle with the world. First though lets clarify some objective truths from which we can found our position. 

I. We are made in God's imagine and as a result were meant to function a certain way in our physical mental and spiritual lives. 

II. Each person as an individual whole is fallen from God's original perfection skewing and distorting the divine image we were created with. We retain in some imperfect form the memory of what we should be yet are utterly incapable of achieving it again or entirely knowing exactly what it was that we lost. 

III. The world has a whole has fallen from God's original perfection skewing and distorting it's coding. It retains something of it's original ability to reflect God's beauty to those who see it but it is now fundamentally flawed and will be replaced rather than restored. (II Peter 3:7-8)

These three facts can provide an explanation for two types of restlessness

           First there is a restlessness that is a result of being created in God's image and having fallen from that image. This is the conflict that exists in a non Christian because consciously or subconsciously they know that they were created for something better. The universal search for happiness, meaning, purpose, satisfaction and peace are all manifestations of this universal state in the human race, "The god shaped whole in all of us" is a sort of modern summarization of the idea. We were created to be image bearers of God and as an entire race we forgot how to do it. This forgetting creates all sorts of reactions which in turn explain many of the different personalities in people. Think of the reactions people have who have lost their wallet. Some will get angry, others will be logical and rational in trying to retrieve that which was lost, others will just give up and quite, ect. This first sort of restlessness is by far the largest and most problematic disease to sicken humanity. 

         The second type of restlessness is the restlessness of a Christian. It is the healing process required for the first restlessness. It involves allowing God entrance into our heart and the ensuing invasion, conquest, and renewal of the various parts of the human person. Many people are Christians in the sense that they have allowed Christ to enter their hearts. They remain worldly in their behavior, thoughts and emotions though because they have not allowed Christ into their, school, relationships, vocabulary, sleeping pattern, eating habits, career plans and all other areas of their life. Even in the rare saint who surrenders all these things to God there will remain a sort of restlessness so long as he or she lives in this world because the world as an entity remains anti God regardless of the individuals within it who have achieved perfection. So their is a continual friction between the world and the Christian, resulting in restless. 

       In summary restlessness is neither good nor bad it is an indicator of something that is wrong either in ourselves or the world around us. The feeling of restlessness doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong with you although generally we can do things to alleviate the restlessness or understand the restlessness making is easier to endure. Restlessness does not exclude joy or even peace. The Christian experience is often like an ocean. On the surface it can be wild, stormy and confusing but deep beneath the conflict filled surface is mile upon mile of deep quiet peaceful meditation on the everlasting eternal truths of God. The question for us is not are we restless? but what part of our lives has yet to experience the renewal of Christ and how can we surrender that part of us to him?      

       Hopefully that all made sense and perhaps somewhere in that mess of words is a bit of wisdom which will help you on your road to union with God and fullfillment of His will for your life.

This is a recycled Facebook note but I intend to write more in the near future stay tuned.