By Not Known
Our spirits are often trapped by restlessness and change is our only constant.
Thus we seek whatever is new or different. This may be the trivial pursuit of the
latest mobile gadget, the vain pursuit of a new ‘look’ , or,the ‘green grass’
pursuit of a new job. Or perhaps our search for the new makes us wistful for a
new home, a new county or a changed marital status. What are your areas of
restlessness?
Restlessness can be a healthy part of the process by which God calls us into
something different. Or it can be destructive. We may needlessly forfeit joy in
our life ‘under the sun’ as given by God as we wonder and worry about missing
something new (Eccles 8:15). Further, the restless energy we put into gaining
the new may distract us. Most of us need to put more focus on making the most
of where we are, rather than seeking somewhere new to be.
Paul touches on these matters in 1 Cor 7: 17-31. There seems to have been a
restlessness within the church regarding such matters as marital and social
status, along with cultural identity. Perhaps some were becoming so
preoccupied with seeking change that it was a distraction from their core calling
to be God’s people.
Paul makes the same point three times within a few verses (vs17,20,24):
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to
him and to which God has called him. The repetition is a sign that it is a key
teaching.
What’s the point? God puts us where we are and we are to get on with doing
what he wants where he wants (v19b). This is applied to cultural status
(circumcision), social position (slave or free) and marital status (whether
married, widowed or single). We all have our grumbles in these matters, but we
are all to accept God’s calling, quit our restlessness, and thrive where we are.
This does not mean that Christians never change their status as Paul himself
comments (eg. vs21, 36). God will sometimes call us into new places and he will
make it clear when this is so. But until he calls us to change we are to stay put.
So, let’s learn the secret of always being contented (Phil 4: 11- 12). We are not
contented because we are in a perfect place, but because we are in the place
where God wants us now.