Are you restless enough?

The truly restless.

There’s a popular bible story about twin brothers Jacob and Esau.

Jacob is notoriously known for taking his brother’s birthright and Esau cried bitter tears because he couldn’t do anything about it…

Or could he?

You can read the whole saga in Genesis 27 (You should totally Check it out!)

Recently, I had a chat with my friend Abby about the ‘rat race’ that we are all in. She said she was beginning to get bored driving the same route to work every day, and we imagined doing the same thing for 30 years! Unbelievable. But yet, we do it. We all take the safe and comfortable route (myself included, which is why I started to really think about it)

This morning, I thought about the story in Genesis again, and I zoned in on verse 40. Isaac says to his son Esau “You shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck”

It gives me the picture of a powerful bull that’s chained to a pole. He’s strong enough to pull out that pole and run off, but he just doesn’t.

Many of us are like that; full of dreams and ambitions. We are passionate, talented, competent, creative, hardworking, eloquent, organized, morally pure, peace-loving, visionary, but most of us just spend our life like a hamster in a cage running around his wheel.

Earlier, I asked the question if Esau could do something about it.

It turns out that he could! And if he can, so can I.

SO, why am I thinking this way?

I’m getting restless.

Restless denotes unable to be still or quiet. However, restless can also mean not satisfied with your situation and wanting a change¹.

I am NOT satisfied with where I am and I am inquiring to now if I can do something about it.

What can I do?

“Break the yoke”, “shake off the yoke”.

What if the reason I’m still where I am because I don’t want to break the cycle?

What if I’ve grown so comfortable with it, I’m used to the routine and I really really don’t mind the rat race?

It’s up to me and no one else to break whatever chain is holding me back from living the life I live in my dreams.

It’s up to me to grow restless enough to shake off that limitation because, all the time I had the strength to do it. All along, I had the power to change my own destiny, to create my own reality.

Are you restless enough?

There’s a wonderful verse that says The whole of creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.

When are you going to manifest?

There is no better moment than now.

So, what can I do?

1.      Find your identity, redefine yourself if you have to

I’ve written a short article on defining yourself. Truth is, we still forget who we are, because life keeps battering us into believing who we are not. Find your identity.

2.      Face your fear

What is holding you back? The victim mindset? Self-pity? Bitterness, anger or resentment? Insecurities. You can rise above all of this when you choose to forgive yourself and forgive the past enough to let it go.

If you feel insecure or incompetent, get as much training and help as you need. There are millions of resources online for free.

Develop yourself to rise above your shortfalls.

3.      Throw his yoke from off your neck

Choose to believe a different reality. Believe the reality of your dream and act it out. Live out your faith. If you believe that you can do it, go ahead and work towards it. Train yourself and don’t believe the lie anymore.

I love Maya Angelou’s poem “Still, I rise”

Believe that that his yoke is not strong enough to hold you down anymore, shake it off!

Are you restless enough?

¹https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/restless