Put down the watering can

The verbena on my deck looked as though it was giving up. Almost completely brown, there was hardly much life left. As I walked past the sad plant each morning to water my impatiens, I thought, “Why keep watering? There’s no point.”

Day after day I watered it anyway. And still, it sat lifeless, as though mocking my efforts. Still brown. Still dying. The label said it loved full sun, and full sun was what it got. So why was it fading away?

Finally, I stopped watering it. A couple of days later, I noticed the stems and leaves were starting to turn green again. A day later, a small purple flower started to bloom.

As it turns out, I was watering too much. I wasn’t helping – I was drowning it. The plant needed space to grow without me overdoing it.

There are days and weeks and seasons when I feel like this is my life. I strive. I water everything in my life to death. I push, worry, and exhaust myself. It’s not until I step back and surrender to God that true growth begins.

God’s Word speaks to our striving and weariness:

“For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 NKJV)

“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1-2 NKJV)

Merriam Webster’s top synonym for striving is “struggling.” Its top antonym is “breaking.” For the heart to take rest – to rest in God – we have to stop struggling to do the work that only He can do. Rest is an act of surrender – an act of trust.

So, how can you rest in God instead of striving? What better time to begin than September, when routines settle and the “normal” returns?

Let’s add rest into the routine. We can sabbath how God intended. We can lay down our striving, pray, and worship God our Father. Join me in putting down the watering can, and let’s be filled again with God’s loving care for us.

Reflect:

Where in my life am I striving instead of resting in God? What “watering can” might I need to set down – an area of my life I’ve been overdoing or trying to control? What does rest in God look like in my daily life? How can I intentionally add rhythms of Sabbath rest or stillness with God into my weekly routines?

Matthew 11:28-30; Psalm 62:1-2; Hebrews 4:9-11

All scripture references are from the English Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.

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Anna Moore