Trading Checklists with God: Working Toward a Life of Faithful Well-Being
Fall is here, and so is that feel-good, take-care sense in the air. The clock is quickly turning toward our season of reflection - ushered in by a social focus on well-being and self-care.
Maintaining our own wellness is practicing good stewardship over the gardens God has given us to cultivate in faith. And while we should always strive for overall well-being, the ever changing self-care standards can be hard to attain.
So how much of the soft life should we really lean into? And what does the bible say about tending to our well-being?
First and foremost, our well-being matters to God. He designed and cares about every aspect of our lives. But the checklist we use to measure how well our lives are going tends to look a little different than what we find in scripture:
“I am doing well if I am…”
…maintaining my physical health.
…living in financial stability.
…succeeding at work and business.
…experiencing peace of mind.
…feeling good emotionally.
…lowering negative stress in my life.
…getting what I need and helping others with the overflow.
Now, we know what you’re thinking…these are all good things! And we agree, we should all be pursuing them to the fullest. But truth is, they are at best evidence of well-being, not the essence of well-being itself.
Why? Because these measures change with time, age and circumstance. Banking on these outcomes is like standing on shifting sands. They might be good hints, or even strong indications, but can’t serve as solid evidence of a life well lived. So what exactly is it that makes us well? In the deepest, truest sense of the word?
“...finding identity as an image bearer means that you are made to live in dependent communion with God…Apart from Him, you cannot be fully human.”
-Hannah Anderson, Made for More: An Invitation to Live in God’s Image
The deepest sense of our overall well-being is connected to living out our full humanity. Living out wholeness, or the fullness of our humanity, comes through right perspective and submission to the will of God. When we see God for who He is, we see ourselves for who we truly are - totally in need of “dependent communion” with Him.
Once outfitted with this right perspective, we can count our being as truly wealthy. And well-being naturally begets well doing. Our God is one who “...does all things well” (Mark 7:37) and we as disciples are called to do “...greater works than these” (John 14:12). When we submit ourselves in obedience to God, we join Him as partners in doing well in the world around us.
“Because you are made in God’s image, you are made to proclaim what he is like by doing what He does.”
-Anderson
“Trading checklists with God is a hard pill to swallow, but crossing off our items without Him would bring the opposite of what we seek.”
Photo by Vladimir Yelizarov on Unsplash
Now the question is not how to achieve everything on our checklist; it’s how to submit our lives to the One who does all things well. How do we reconstruct our vision of well-being and get on board with what God wants our lives to look like? In order to answer that new, better question, we look to scripture and find that God has a checklist of His own.
God says you’re winning when you:
…love [Him] with all your heart, soul, and mind.
…pray and stay in communication with me.
…repent of your sins.
…seek first my kingdom.
…submit to me and the authorities I have given you.
…cast your cares onto me and rest in me.
…love and forgive others.
…are obedient to my word.
…are thankful to me.
…keep your mind stayed on me and on things above.
Our checklist is full of good things we believe God wants us to have. But they are 1) not promised and 2) the likely result of doing the things that are on God’s list. His list is full of action-based promises that will always keep us in right relationship with Him. Answering that call to action cultivates a spiritual state of freedom - a freedom that overflows into every area of our lives.
Trading checklists with God is a hard pill to swallow, but crossing off our items without Him would bring the opposite of what we seek. So, practice self-care. Go hard for the soft life. Work to maintain your overall well-being. But remember that these accomplishments are icing on the cake of a life humbly submitted to our trustworthy God. We’re convinced that God wants us to be well and do well, just in His will and way, not in our own.