I shared earlier this week that I had read the book, Girl at the End of the World by Elizabeth Esther. I shared that I was sitting with it and struggling with it.
One of the things Ester said:
I still don’t know how to rest or relax. I feel guilty about taking a day off. I’m spiritually lazy if I have margins of downtime. It has taken nearly a decade to realize that living frantically isn’t, in fact, a virtue. Or healthy.
Elizabeth Esther, Girl at the end of the World
The fundamentalism that Esther grew up in was completely off the rails and determined to be a cult. Yet, I think it’s easy for conservative fundamentalism to lead to a frantic, hypervigilent lifestyle that makes people look over their shoulder at an angry and unsatisfied God.
I grew up sometimes feeling this way. God was angry and there was no way to please him except through constant vigilance and repentance and work. But Romans 8:1-2 gave me understanding and help.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2
This scripture gives me rest. ❤
