It’s an unusual Sunday morning for me. Icy road have cancelled church and stopped all activity in the area. (Except for those brave souls who believe, “My Nissan Sentra can drive on ice perfectly fine, thank you very much. But that’s another story.) So, I’m relaxing at home with a cup of coffee, looking out the window at my snowy backyard. Finally being able to stop is wonderful! And it’s not.

The story is the same every snow day. You are excited about finally being able to slow down. There’s nowhere you have to be, no one expects anything of you. You are free! Then about 12 minutes in you start to panic. Isn’t there something you should be doing? This seems like a great time to clean out the garage, or maybe paint the bathroom. After a couple of hours, you are praying for the roads to be cleared so that you can get back to your life.

Why are we so bad at being still? There are lots of reasons, but mostly they boil down to: we’ve come to define ourselves by our activity. We feel that our 80 hour weeks are something to feel good about. When that activity comes to a halt we don’t know who we are anymore. We don’t just feel that we are doing less when we slow down, we feel like we are less.

It’s easy to assume that our identity is based on our actions, but for God the reverse is true. When we trust God’s answer about who we are and how much we are valued, we are set free to do the things in life that matter. If we try to earn our value, we will only end up exhausted and depressed. That’s why when our ability to go and do is taken away from us (like through a snow storm, or illness, or age), we struggle.

So, if you have a day off, try to enjoy it. Knowing that God loves you for who you are, even when you can’t do everything!