"Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today." - Deut. 8:11-17
New York City has zero chill. Everyone is always running to work, power walking to yoga or sprinting towards their future with the hopes of someone finally spelling their name right on their Starbucks cup. When I first moved here I did not consider myself one of them. But ever since the "Nyquil incident" I have humbly accepted my participation in this group of go-getters.
The “Nyquil incident” happened sophomore year of college when I was a full-time student, working two jobs, in multiple clubs, and still trying to pull off blue eyeliner. Because of all this stress I wasn't sleeping well and getting sick a lot. One night I decided to take a dose of Nyquil in hopes of getting rest and feeling better. The next day I woke up on the kitchen floor with a sock on one hand. Why I only managed to get a sock on one hand is still slightly disappointing to me.
It turns out, my body was not use to this type of medicine and after sleeping for 14 hours straight, I learned my body was not a machine. I could not do everything with my own strength, and only God could provide me with the energy needed to complete His will.
When we live at a pace that requires a lot of energy, we can be tempted to take all the credit for our successes. We did put a lot of effort and time into our accomplishments after all, right? But every ounce of strength we have comes directly from God. He is gracious enough to give us just the right amount of energy and strength to complete his will. He has promised to be a permanent source of energy for us, no matter how hard the task in front of us may be. Philippians 2:13 says:
"for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."
All our successes are possible because God gave us the energy to accomplish them in the first place. When we relinquish the idea that we are in charge of our own energy sources and put down the Nyquil, we can enjoy true rest in the knowledge that God's energy supply will always be enough. We deepen our relationship with God when we acknowledge our dependence on Him. His strength is supernatural, and we get to use that strength whenever we need it! It is there for the taking.
It has never been us. It will always be God.