Freely Speaking Audio Devotion

Welcome to Freely Speaking, an OHSOFREE devotional ministry where we share our hearts and trust God for transformation.

Today, Angela Vandagriff reminds us that peace is possible amid busyness.

“What do workers gain from their toil” (Ecclesiastes 3:9 NIV)?

Soul-satisfying happiness will elude you if you are trying to obtain it by being busy. When your mind starts dictating more activities to make you happy, your body becomes debilitated and unable to perform at peak capacity. Fatigue utterly engulfs the body.

Being a mother of five, I thought activities were key to successful parenting. My busyness left me tired and living in a fog. As life transitioned to the next season, I still allowed a busy schedule to distort and dictate how happiness looked. In every season, busyness blurred my joy, taking a toll on my mind and body. With no reserve energy, a cyclone of devastating events hit my life. I almost tapped out.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon asks what workers gain from their toil. What had I gained from my toil? A broken heart, mind, body, and soul—the very things Jesus asked me to love Him with in Mark 12:30. Instead of loving Him, I squandered my energy on vain busyness. Peace and happiness eluded me. I allowed a depleted mind to tug me away from the peace of God’s love.

The definition of toil is worrisomeness, labor, and pain. The Hebrew word amal indicates the hardship of work. The Greek meaning of toil is fatigue, weariness, debilitating, and trouble. But what stuck with me was the Anglo-French definition: tug, pull, drag, struggle.

I have been tugged, pulled, and dragged from one season of my life to another, struggling with every step. My mind never rested on the Lord; it was always busy. Today, I allow my mind to take daily sabbaticals, where I think of nothing but Jesus sitting beside me—sigh, exhale, and smile.

Solomon knew anything gained from toil would be vain; anything apart from God would not be peaceful or happy.

Consider what kind of happiness your mind dictates to you. Allow God’s love to remove the debilitating fatigue, weariness, and struggles pulling you from soul-satisfying happiness only found in a relationship with God.

Thank you for joining us today. If you would like to learn more about OhSoFree Ministries, please visit us at www.ohsofreeministries.com/