Maybe we should all get a bit better at wasting time sometimes.

Now hear me out. I’m not saying we should be lazy. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t work hard. We should. Just not every second of every day of every year.

We generally look down our noses at wasting time. After all, we’ve got a bazillion things to do. So if we waste time, we just put more pressure on a pressure cooker that’s already feeling the pressure, right?

But doing nothing—in moderation—is actually good for you. Psalm 46:10 famously reminds us to “Be still, and know that I am God…” Notice how being still is connected to knowing that God is in charge. If we chase our tails all day long we can mistakenly get the impression that everything is actually up to us.

But it’s not.

That’s why wasting little pockets of time here and there can be a good thing.

Earlier this week I had 15 free minutes fall right into my lap. At first I checked Instagram. Then Sportsnet. And then…

Pause.

I put my phone down, resisted the annoying and unrelenting urge to be “productive” and sat back with my hands behind my head. It felt strange… and awesome.

I stared at the wall, enjoyed a memory of summer as a child, and listed to my heartbeat come back down to normal.

Maybe we should all get a bit better at wasting time sometimes.

In a world where frantic is the new normal, wasting time can be time well spent.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.