Picture this:

Your alarm goes off way too early in the morning. Is it seriously already time to wake up? You feel so deathly exhausted, so you lay in bed for another 30 minutes, probably scrolling Instagram. You wait until the last possible second to get out of bed and begin rushing to get ready, having just enough time to grab a granola bar on the way out the door before dropping your kids off at school.

You arrive to work with just a couple minutes to spare before you have meetings and people who need your attention and deadlines to meet. Your to-do list keeps growing longer and you wonder if you’ll ever check off all the tasks.

While trying to focus on getting something (anything!) done, your mind is replaying the awkward interactions you had with people yesterday, preparing for the multiple practices your kids have this week, and wondering when you will just. get. a. break. 

While driving home from work, you get in the school pick-up line, and wow, though you love your kids so much, they hop in the car and immediately begin overwhelming you with questions about what’s for dinner and if they can play outside, while at the same time, you are telling them to stop arguing with each other and to use their inside voices.

You get home in just enough time to begin making dinner, having maybe 20 minutes to sit down for a meal (if there isn’t practice tonight). Then it’s time for bedtime routines and last-minute laundry, and before you know it, you’re back in bed, setting your alarm to do the same thing over again tomorrow.

Sound familiar? Did this give you anxiety just reading it?

Barna recently published a study on 15,000 adults ages 18-35 from 25 countries around the world. In this study, Barna found some heartbreaking statistics about this generation:

• Despite being more connected than ever, this generation is also more lonely than ever. Only 33% of those in the study said they felt deeply cherished by someone in their life.

• This generation is plagued by worry and anxiety. An alarming amount of the study group claimed to experience anxiety about important decisions (40%), the fear of failure (40%), and the pressure to find success (36%).

I wish I could say these statistics surprised me, but honestly, they just affirmed what I already knew. I see it among my friends and peers and strangers and I feel it myself – this debilitating worry and anxiety and pressure to become something “great”. A great wife. A great mom. A great student. A great entrepreneur. A great teacher. And the list goes on.

This pressure to perform is paralyzing. Have you ever just wanted to run and hide from all the deadlines and responsibilities and harsh realities? Yeah, me too. Sometimes, the thought of escaping sounds relieving…

And this is where those pesky numbing mechanisms come into play.

You begin mindlessly scrolling Facebook instead of enjoying quality time with your family. You resort to Netflix for rest instead of reading the Word. And man, that bag of barbeque potato chips looks much more appetizing than the wholesome meal I was going to make for dinner.

But what if there was another method to this madness? What if we could truly thrive instead of just survive? What if there was a kind of rest that really lasted?

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’”

Matthew 11:28

Here’s the truth, friend: You were created to run and hide. Perhaps you’re just running and hiding in the wrong places. True rest doesn’t come from a good night’s sleep or a spa day or isolation – it comes from a person named Jesus. You were created to run to Him and hide in Him.

So, next time you’re having “one of those days”, refrain from resorting back to Twitter or Hulu or the tub of ice cream, and instead run to the Father. He is the refuge that gives authentic, lasting soul-rest. You’re safe here.

”Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”

Psalm 91:1-2

As Bob Sorge so beautifully put it:

“[In Christ] you can find shelter from the swirl of emotions that assault your soul. Here you can vent your anxious thoughts. Here you can be renewed in love. Here you can gaze on the Lord’s beauty. You’ll hear your Father’s promises of protection; you’ll be healed from the wounds of man’s rejection; you’ll regain strength for the journey; you’ll be safe; you’ll live again.”

When life is just too much and you feel like you’re not enough, run to your loving Father and hide in His protective arms. 

- Adrian Lien, ARISE Worship Lead