When your soul has cabin fever

She spoke in hushed tones, “I have everything: my health, good kids, a great husband, and a job I like…why do I feel so restless?”

And it’s confusing, right?

It’s confusing to have All The Things and still feel restless. What happens when our soul has cabin fever? Where does our restlessness come from?

Our restlessness has three sources.

Restlessness is an emotion that points us to a deeper cause. Which of these resonates with you?

1. Our restlessness comes from looking for our worth in the wrong places.

We humans have an uncanny ability to look for our value in all the wrong places, like our metrics, ministry, work, or achievements. We believe that we matter as long as we’re accomplishing things in the boardroom, classroom, or playroom. We’ve convinced ourselves that, the minute we fail to achieve, help, or be perfect, God and others will lose interest in us.

2. Our restlessness comes from not fulfilling our purpose.

We humans have been given a universal purpose to know and glorify God and to love others. The problem is that we believe the life we’re “supposed” to be living, the life dictated to us by social norms and what our friends are doing, is more important than God’s purpose for us.

3. Our restlessness comes from a lack of rest.

We humans are doers, which is a good thing until our bodies aren’t able to rest because we’re busy doing All The Things to prove our worth. It’s hard to hear His still, small voice when we never stop moving, and when we don’t hear the truth of what Christ says about us—that we’re beloved, forgiven, and chosen—we strive to earn these titles.

And before we know it, these three sources of restlessness can drive us to unhealthy behaviors.

A soul with cabin fever can drive us to do three things that just aren’t like us:

It drives us to busyness. In our quest to squelch our restless heart, we get busy. Our busyness feels unstoppable while making us feel like we’re dying on the inside.

It drives us to self-focus. We become preoccupied with what we need and desire to soothe our restlessness, causing us to lose focus on loving others.

It drives us to distraction. We turn to anything that distracts us, like Netflix, shopping, working out, or redecorating, to keep us from thinking about what’s really going on.

But friends, our restlessness may be God ordained.

We may talk about our restlessness in hushed tones, but it isn’t all bad. As Mark Buchanan writes in The Rest of God, “The truth is, we’re always a bit restless. We’re supposed to be. This is not a flaw in our faith, it is faith’s substance.”

God uses our restlessness three ways to drive us back to Him.

Our restlessness about our worth drives us back to it’s true Source.

Our desire to find our worth is actually a call to find the Source of all our worth. Every feeling of being incomplete and every need that we have is a light on the path that will lead us back home to Christ.

Deep down, we know that this is not our home, so we’re waiting for something better. We know we’re incomplete because we don’t yet know His fullness.

All of our insufficiencies lead us to the One who is all-sufficient.

Our restlessness about our purpose drives us back to its Giver.

Doing what God’s called us to will calm our hearts. He can’t wait to tell us what He has in mind for us and only us. He wants us to draw closer to Him, but He’s so gentle that He won’t force us to come. Christ uses our restlessness to bring us to Him.

Deep down, we know that our lives are not meaningless but full of plan and purpose. To know His plan for us, we must ask and wait for His reply.

All of our heart’s cries lead us to the One who has plans for us.

Our restlessness about being still drives us back to the Good Shepherd.

He leads us to quiet waters and green pastures so He can restore our souls. The Good Shepherd created the Sabbath for us to stop, delight, and enjoy. Christ wants us to rest in the truth that our salvation, His love, and our union with Him are secure.

Deep down, we know that we’re designed to do AND to rest. When we’re imbalanced, every part of us feels it. Our souls work best when we stop AND move out in the world.

All of our busyness reminds us that we miss Him, so we return.

We may speak about our restlessness in hushed tones. We may have All The Things, like health, good kids, a great husband, and a job we like, but our soul feels the cabin fever.

Instead of feeling discontent, may we understand the reasons our hearts grow restless. Instead of getting busy, self-focused, or distracted, may we take our uneasy hearts directly to Christ. Our restlessness is a gift that points us back to the One who loves us most.

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