Go To Your Inner Room

•  by Amanda Beres posted April 3, 2025

  Amanda Beres is a writer and freelance editor based in Rhode Island. She has a Master's in Professional Writing and Communication and has worked with The Global Poetics Project and Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

So, full confession before we get into this: This is me. I am holding a mirror up to myself as I write this, but this message is so strong that God wants me to share it. I am one of those people who can feel unworthy to receive what God has for me. But recently, God really showed me that this doesn’t serve anyone, least of all Him. So why is it important to talk about this? Well, I’m not just talking about myself. There are a lot of Christians out there who are afraid to take the blessing God has for them because it doesn’t look like what they thought it would. There are so many Christians who feel unworthy because of their past, or they believe they didn’t do enough.

Why do I bring this up? Well, if you’re anything like me, you have difficulty adjusting to God’s timeline. You have difficulty accepting that there is nothing you need to do. This is true when you know what’s coming and that He’s doing something, you just haven’t seen it yet. This is especially true when you can feel Him speeding things up and you know you’re on a countdown. Cue feelings of unworthiness. Here’s the thing about feelings, though: while they are always valid, they aren’t always true. For example, if you feel alone, but God has sent a community to you, or you feel broken but have not allowed yourself to be built back up, your feelings are not the best guide. In fact, your feelings are never the best guide. The Bible says our hearts out deceitful, so why wouldn’t they deceive us? If the enemy himself could do anything, why wouldn’t he just do it? I have begun to believe that getting us in our feelings is one of the ways the enemy gets us into agreement with him and out of agreement with God. This is one way he tries to steal our God-give abundance. 

The word says Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. The word also says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. This fight to resist temptation and resist the enemy looks different for everyone. For some, it may look like not drinking. For others, it may look like changing your friend group. For me, it looks like not scrolling on Instagram and YouTube. But why is this how we resist the devil? Well, the thing itself is not a sin, but what we do with it, how we see it, can become a sin. Let me give you a personal example. 

I have to be careful with social media, YouTube, really anything that can be considered mindless and self-numbing. Why? Because the Bible says to cast all your cares on Christ and meditate on His word day and night. Let me explain. When I get big emotions that don’t feel good, my first instinct is to shut them down. This means finding anything to distract me, so that I don’t have to think about what I’m feeling. Here we come back to that whole thing about feelings never being a good guide. What does the Bible say about this? Well, it says I am to bring all requests to God in prayer and petition. I am to cast my cares on Him, hold my peace, and let Him fight for me. In short, I am to ask God to calm the storms and surrender my feelings, not clear my mind purposely, so I don’t have to deal with them. Doing so is a sin. It goes against what the Lord has for me… an abundant life. 

This is where we have to trust God with everything. It’s about obedience and surrender. Our obedience should lead to surrender, and that surrender should lead us to trust Him. And I will be the first to admit, it is not always easy to trust God. Especially when you cannot fully see or understand what He is doing. But what does the Bible say in Proverbs 3:5-6? Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding.  See, when I question God, I’m really questioning my ability to carry this.  Which is still me questioning God because I’m assuming I’ll have to carry it without Him, or that He won’t give me the capacity to carry it. I’m questioning what makes me worthy to receive something so big, so beautiful, that it could only be from Him.  Which is questioning if He truly loves me. But as God shows me this in myself, He kept bringing me to Matthew 25:31-46. Specifically, He had me focus on Matthew 25:34-40:

Matthew 25

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’

I was shocked when I read this time. God had me catch this, and I need you to catch it too. See, I always associated this with waiting until we were in Heaven. But God is saying, “I want to give this to you now! You can have a glimpse of Heaven on this side of it!” And I believe He is saying it to many of us. It comes back to this question: How have you been serving Him? Are you doing what He asked? Have you been obedient? My pastor uses this phrase on Sunday mornings that I find interesting: “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” And I am now beginning to understand it. Sure, I can tithe and show up every Sunday for service. I can sacrifice my time, my energy, my resources for God. But am I doing what He told me to do? Am I using my time, energy, and resources as He told me to? 

God is telling His people to unbusy themselves and trust Him above all else. Trust Him above what we can see and what we can do. 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 says:

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].

It seems like God is saying to us, “You have been faithful. You have been obedient. Come and receive the full reward I have for you. Receive the full blessing!” You know if I’m speaking to you. You’re the one who kept showing up consistently. You’re the one who sought Him out. The word says in Matthew 6:33, “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also”.  Catch that, seek Him first, and all these things will be given to you also. So, have you been seeking Him first? If so, then expect a blessing to follow, just don’t expect it to be on your timeline, or the way you expected. If not, now is the time to start. And remember to take everything back to Him for confirmation. 

God truly wants to bless us. He waits expectantly to bless us! But we must surrender to Him in obedience. This is what makes the difference. We cannot mistake doing many good works for doing the work the Lord called us to. We cannot replace time soaking in the Holy Spirit with time working at the church, or a mission trip, or going out and doing street ministry, or… you fill in the blank. Of course, all those things can be time truly spent with God in the Holy Spirit. But don’t ignore the time away from work, where it’s just you and God communicating through the Holy Spirit in prayer. Don’t ignore your time in the Bible, where God can truly speak to you. This is what it comes down to: if you want to hear from God, you need to make space for the Holy Spirit to speak. So I encourage you to go into your inner room, unbusy yourself, and make space for God to speak. Make space for yourself to listen. Do it daily and just watch God blow your mind! 

• Amanda Beres