RESTLESS

Ecclesiastes 2:23---all his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest

Tossing from side to side while throwing the covers off her feet, Angela struggled to get to sleep. The room seemed either too cold or too hot. The slightest light from the alarm clock managed to find its way into the slim opening of her eyes. The neighbor’s dogs decided to have a barking contest just outside her window, probably due to some night creature invading their territory. The overhead ceiling fan turned to move the air but now a noticeable squeak could be heard. It seemed like everything was magnified in her mind keeping Angela from relaxing.

She had started the day off with a headache that just wouldn’t go away. Her computer crashed and tasks that needed done mounted up in the “inbox”. The telephone rang almost non stop and the copy machine jammed with paper. As the day lingered on, nothing ever seemed to get much better and when she reached for her drink on the desk, it spilled and ran all over the desk and under some important papers Angela did all she could do to keep from crying. It wasn’t a bad day, just a long one that left her tired and frustrated. Now that it was time to sleep Angela’s mind couldn’t stop replaying the events of the day. It was almost midnight before she could even start to relax. Tossing and turning she looked briefly at the clock and realized it was only 12:15 am. By 1:30 am she should be sound asleep so she would be rested tomorrow. But 1:30 came around and she was still awake.

Finally giving up on the idea of falling asleep, Angela got up and wandered towards the kitchen to have a quick snack. A glass of milk should help. Allowing the cool liquid to find its way back to her throat she relaxed and headed back towards the bedroom, confident that now she could rest and still get enough sleep so that she would feel refreshed in the morning. Adjusting her pillows and sliding back onto the silky sheets, she turned over on her right side and gave a long sigh. Sleep. Sleep. Slowly her eyelids drifted closed and her mind stopped racing.

The gray darkness covered her in peace and quiet until the telephone rang at 2:45 am. Trying to get a focus she struggled to find the phone at the side of the bed. Angela said a groggy “Hello!” into the receiver and waited. Nothing. Another few seconds and still nothing. Just as she said “Hello” again the quiet click of someone hanging up told her that the call was nothing important.. A wrong number? Come on! If you are going to call late at night at least try to get the number right or have the decency to apologize for making a mistake. Ugh!

Now awake, Angela found her mind replaying the events that she had tried so hard to push back just a couple of hours ago. Unbidden, or at least Angela didn’t think she had deliberately focused on them, the checklist of things that needed to be done filled her head. It was going to be a busy day and she had to take Eric and Daniel to soccer practice after work. Had she checked to be sure that they had finished their homework?
I think I did. No, I can’t do this! If I don’t get some sleep I will never be able to focus on anything.

The hands on the clock registered 3:45 am. Only two and a half hours until time to get up. Sleep, I have to get sleep. Why can’t I relax? Why is my mind so restless? Maybe if I get up and watch some TV my mind will calm down and I can get rested. I may not get as deep a sleep as in my bed but resting on the couch beats getting no sleep at all. Around 4:30 am Angela fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. When the alarm went off at 5:15 Angela groaned and double-checked the time. It was another one of those short nights when sleep eluded her. No more time to sleep. It was a new day and she needed to get ready for work at the office.

The scenario above is all too common in our fast-paced society. We rush about from place to place trying to get things accomplished. At work the pile of papers on the desk seems to grow larger each day. Lunch hours are no longer a time to relax. Instead we sit at our desk eating a quick sandwich and coke or have some type of fast food brought in. Push. Push. Push. Job expectations mean more responsibility as companies downsize or when others quit and the company does not fill the position with someone else due to economic reasons The mind constantly tries to process all the information like a mini-computer but there is such as a meltdown when everything seems overwhelming.

But it doesn’t end at the office. With the mind churning through all the things planned ahead, relaxation avoids us. Is there time to take the car in for an oil change? Is this my day to carpool everyone home from soccer? Do I cook for the evening meal or do we go out to another fast-food restaurant? Is there enough clean laundry so that everyone has something to wear tomorrow? By the time 11:00 pm comes around most of us are tired and ready to go bed.

Solomon addressed several insights into the world around man and determined that “human labor costs more pain and restlessness that it is worth” (Ecclesiastes 2:23).
[http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/ecclesiastes.pdf].

Solomon’s wisdom applies to life in today’s world. So much of what we do seems futile. Problems continue to pop up and living in this world is no longer simple. It is complicated and tests the stamina of anyone. There is no age limit, either. We are overwhelmed with so much information and just the demands of living take its toll on us. Is it worth it? Usually it is. The difference between a committed Christian and someone who does not have Christ as a part of their life is that our burdens can be placed at the feet of the Lord and he can carry us through the difficult times. The stress level of living in today’s world is just not going to go away. How we handle the stress and whether or not we let it control us is the key issue. Rest in God and take time to enjoy the little things he has put here for our enjoyment.