Elisabeth Elliot: Carelessness is likely to result if we're restless. It disquiets the mind. It creates confusion and helplessness is the result.

Lisa Barry: Now that's a thought that deserves careful consideration. Think of the last time you did a task in a careless manner. Did it create a feeling of confusion? I can think of many times when that's happened to me. Being careless opens the door for being distracted, and then very little gets accomplished.

Today on Gateway To Joy, Elisabeth Elliot talks about the fruit of restlessness, which is confusion and the feeling of helplessness. Find out how to quiet that spirit next on this Wednesday edition of Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, continuing my talks today on a subject which is so common to most of us. It's restlessness. Restlessness weakens us. It unnerves us to do our work.

Do you find yourself doing a piece of work that has to be done, but with a restless mind, wishing you were somewhere else, wishing you had something else to do? I think it's very common with all of us.

Carelessness is likely to result if we're restless. It disquiets the mind. It creates confusion and helplessness is the result.

There was a great woman who did monologues. She has a story where the mother is talking to the little children. She is telling the little boy, "Now go and get Daddy's driver. Just keep your mind on that one thing. Don't do anything else until you've taken the driver to Daddy." Now "driver" I think has got something to do with golf clubs. Don't ask me what a driver is.

But the mother understands that the little boy was very restless and was likely to be sidetracked if he didn't keep his mind on that one thing. I think my mother probably said exactly the same thing to us many times. "Now just go and do it. Keep your mind on that one thing and don't do anything else, and then come back and tell me that you've finished the job."

Ecclesiastes is a book written by a very restless man. Fed up with life, everything had become meaningless. In chapter 2 he says, "So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after wind."

There may be someone listening to me today who is in an office right this minute. You have permission to listen to the radio, and so here you are, listening to words that you may identify with. "The work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This, too, is meaningless.

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This, too, is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days, his work is pain and grief. Even at night, his mind does not rest. This, too, is meaningless."

It's a very accurate description of the man of the world, or of the Christian who is still full of worldly ambitions. Wealth didn't bring him peace and rest. Restlessness makes us cynical. It disturbs our faith. We lose our hold on God and eternal things. Our work lacks power because we are not at rest.

In Psalm 37, the psalmist says, "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong. For like the grass, they will soon wither. Like green plants, they will soon die away." Now he says, "Do not fret." Then he goes on to tell us how we can quit fretting.

"Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this."

Three times in this psalm the author says, "Do not fret. Do not fret. Do not fret. Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently for Him. Be still before Him. Do not fret when men succeed in their ways." What a temptation it is for us to fret and get very jealous of somebody else who perhaps has succeeded where we have failed.

Rest is a divine gift. But it's also a lesson that you and I must learn. How many days go by when you are not upset by something? Can you think back over just yesterday? Did somebody upset you? Did your own failure in a piece of work upset you? Were you disgusted with the boss? Did you wish that your children would be more obedient? And you children who are listening to me now, and I know that many children listen to this program-some of you are being home schooled and perhaps you didn't do a job faithfully yesterday because you were restless. You wanted to go somewhere or do something.

Well, as I said, it's a lesson that we all have to learn. There are probably very few days that go by in our lives when we're not upset by something or somebody. Each occasion we should learn to see as God's lesson. He reminds us that He is perfectly in control and all will be well and all manner of thing will be well, as St. Theresa wrote.

Can you accept this moment? Can you trust Him and be still before Him? Can you rest when you find yourself in a traffic jam? There might be a truck driver who is listening to me now who is in a traffic jam. He's thinking, "Don't tell me she is talking about traffic jams. Does she know anything about what it's like to be hauling stuff like this on a highway like this?" No. Of course I don't know what it's like to be hauling it, but I've been in traffic jams.

Can you begin to see it as God's appointment? Just sit there quietly. Remember, there's nothing you can do about it. You can't get out of the traffic jam. You can't even make a phone call, unless you have a car phone. God knows all about that very important appointment. "Thou knowest not what is good for thee," someone has said, "but God doth know. Let Him thy strong reliance be, and rest thee so."

I'll read that again. "Thou knowest not what is good for thee, but God doth know. Let Him thy strong reliance be, and rest thee so." There's always time to do the will of God. Do you believe that? I'll say it again. There is always time to do the will of God. It is never an excuse that I didn't have time, if it was something that God wanted me to do.

There are many things that we may have planned which can't be accomplished. The great thing is to make our planning subject to God's perfect plan because His will can always be done.

I do believe that. I have to take myself by the scruff of the neck sometimes and say, "Sit yourself down there at the typewriter or the computer or get yourself down there to the kitchen job, whatever the job may be. Help me, Lord, to do this thing which seems to interfere with something else which I thought was more important." The Lord will guide you continually, moment by moment. He keeps us. He teaches us. His love surrounds us.

Do you know what God's will is for you today? Well, certainly every one of us has duties. The carrying out of those duties will indicate how gratefully and peacefully and calmly we have obeyed Him.

What is His will for you today? Are you a student? The will of God for you is to study. Are you a businessman? The will of God for you is to conduct your business in an honest way. Are you a schoolteacher? The will of God for you is to exemplify the life of Jesus Christ, even if you're not allowed to open your mouth about being a Christian. Those children will see a difference in you.

Have you asked Him what His will for you is today? Have you laid your agenda at His feet and asked Him to correct it? Are you worried about it? The Bible says, "Do not worry about anything whatever." Do you sometimes wonder if God is really practical? "Not worry about this thing? It's something I've got to worry about, or else I'm not going to get it done at all."

Well, but if you look back to what you were worried about last Wednesday afternoon, did the worrying do any good? You know it didn't. Worrying is not only forbidden, but it is useless and it is a colossal waste of time. Is there something you dread? Have you deliberately chosen to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him?

Right now someone I love is in the midst of a divorce. I can imagine that it is next to impossible for her to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him as she hears that the man has gone to court. God has permitted this and He is simply saying, "I want you to trust Me in this moment, this present moment." He will carry you through, step by step. This is the road to peace. This is the gateway to joy for you and for me. I believe with all my heart that every experience, if given to Jesus, can be transformed into a gateway to joy.

Lisa Barry: I believe that, too. One way to be confident that your trust stays on God is to fill your mind with His truth. Make meeting with God each day a priority and read books that will help motivate you to do the right thing.

One book that I'd recommend is GOD'S GUIDANCE: A SLOW AND CERTAIN LIGHT. It will help you see that waiting on God is an indispensable part of finding His will. We also have a copy of this series available to purchase. Ask for the title DEALING WITH RESTLESSNESS. Here's our toll-free number: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Or you can write to us at Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Our Internet ministry address is gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Be with us again tomorrow when Elisabeth offers guidance on how to be still. That's next time on Gateway To Joy.