Have you ever come to the end of a day and felt like you didn’t accomplish anything? Or maybe you’ve felt like every day is like being on a fast-paced treadmill. You’re doing your best to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Life can feel urgent. It’s easy to go through a day, a week, or a month feeling as though you’re always responding or reacting to something. Or someone. But is this really the way to live? Is this really the life Jesus lived and the one He invites us into? The good news is that Jesus offers us a different way.

Just imagine for a minute what it must have been like for the eternal Son of God—Jesus, the second person of the Trinity—to be constrained to a human body, to know the limitations of humanity.

It’s what theologians call the incarnation of God. Jesus, who is God, was also human. “So the Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14). He is the “visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ” (Colossians 1:19).

So Jesus loves your humanity. How do we know? Because He took it on. He knows what it is like to grow weary. To feel hungry. To get thirsty. To come to the end of the day and need to rest. In His humanity, Jesus knows what it is like to have limitations.

While we often live with a sense of panic, Jesus always lived with purpose.  Jesus was focused without being frenzied. He came to do His Father’s will—but He did it within the boundaries or limitations of humanity.  Flesh and blood.

Why is this good news for us?

It frees us from feeling that we have to do everything.  Or that we can do everything! It enables us to do “enough” each day.  Jesus doesn’t ask us to do the impossible.  He knows we can’t. He asks us to be faithful in the real-life circumstances of whatever season we are in. And just our desire to please Him pleases Him.

The God who knows our limitations, and even entered into them for our sake, is gentle with us. Patient. He understands we can’t do it all. And we certainly can’t do it in our own strength. It’s all His grace.

He asks us for a life of humble trust and surrender. He asks us to be faithful. He takes whatever we can give Him, and then He does the rest. The real heavy lifting! After all, it is His work anyway.

What He wants from us is not more. He wants us to be dependent. His heart for us is not urgency, but confidence that He can take whatever we’re able to give Him today and use it for His purposes.

Today, as we focus on moving away from a life of frenzy and feelings of urgency, let’s explore the difference between panic and purpose.

Panic or Purpose:

• How would you describe your feelings of living with urgency each day?
• What causes you to feel panic or urgency most often?
• In what ways does this lead you toward independence from God instead of dependence on God?
• If you were to pull out of one activity or commitment, what would it be?

Ask God to give you direction and insight into living within your limitations and He will!

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14).

Adapted from Karen Ehmen and Ruth Schwenk, The Love Your Life Project: 40 Days to Prioritize Your Passions, Cultivate Productive Habits and Refuel your times of Rest. Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2024. Used by permission. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com.

For deeper reflection, listen to Colossians 1 today!