The Busyness of Life
If you stop someone on the street and ask them how they are, the response you’ll get will probably be, “busy” or “tired” or some mix of the two (myself included). It’s become the norm for most of us. To live a life constantly on the go, always on the move, with schedules filled to the brim with nearly no space to breathe during the day, and it’s killing our souls. We’ve lost the small moments of our days when we could slow down, be still, take a deep breath, and focus on the love of God.
Despite most of us admitting that we want to slow down and want a lifestyle that allows us to rest more, we do nothing to change and wonder why our hearts and minds can never seem to stop racing when we lay our head down at night. It’s because our whole day has been filled with constant busyness, hurry, and distractedness.
For some of you it’s because you’ve just begun a new job and you want to make a great first impression, it could be that you just had a baby and are figuring out how to stay sane because of the late nights, early mornings, and still living a relatively normal life. Or you’re someone who enjoys being busy because of the thrill of being around people, having something to do, and never having to think about what the next thing is because you love living in the moment.
My desire in this isn’t to shame or guilt anyone into being less busy, because for some of you, this stage of life doesn’t allow for just tons of leisure time. With these words I would love to display what it means to live a slowed down spirituality and what that might look like for you. Because the goal of obedience to God isn’t to look like the person next to you or even to simply obey, the goal of obedience to God is to grow in knowledge and love for God.
May these words be a balm for your soul, and a light to your path that shows you the love of God in your everyday life. Blessings.
A MIND CENTERED ON GOD
Days are filled with the urgent and important from the second we wake up to the second we lay our heads to rest. Alarms blaring, phones buzzing, meetings scheduled, and the list goes on. Leaving little time for rest, let alone space to think and meditate on God. Yet it’s through God that we find the rest our hearts yearn for.
So what are we to do while living in the tension of busyness and dependence on God? Do the next right thing God has called you towards.
For me that looked like going to bed earlier than I liked and waking up at a time that allowed me to make time to listen to God, enjoy His presence, and have undistracted time to dedicate practices that created gratefulness within me.
Realistically, this was me waking up and getting on my knees to posture myself with humility before God (it kinda hurts so sometimes I’ll sit on the side of my bed, oops), walk two steps over to my desk to read the prayer book Every Moment Holy to begin my study of the character of God and form me into a person of love. And lastly I end every morning with a written out prayer (really it’s typed on my iPad) and writing whatever God is teaching me in this current season of life. And these have been the practices that have left my soul refreshed daily. They allow me to speak with others gently with a listening ear, they allow me to see others as image-bearers full of beauty and wonder, and most of all allow me to gaze upon the beauty of God in the ordinary moments of my everyday life, and that’s the goal.
To have God be in the everyday mundane moments of your life so that the separation of you and I’s spiritual life versus our normal life begins to narrow down till we have a life lived out by the love of God throughout our whole day. Yet the disciplines in our lives aren’t what produce the kind of character we long for, they’re simply the means God uses to create us into the kind of people He desires us to be.
No matter what disciplines you set up to nourish your soul, the goal of them all is formation to who God has called you to be and to keep God at the front of mind throughout your days. Because when God begins to form the way we view our life, it’s in that moment that God will have transitioned from just someone we think upon and believe, to someone who will have seeped into our very bones. His grace will be evident in our service, our minds will lean towards mercy, and the aim of life will be clear to the world around us because of God transforming our hearts and minds.
MEETING WITH GOD
When I meet with someone I cherish, one of the most important things to me is to spend quality time with them. I rearrange my schedule, see when they’re available, and see to it that I get to spend uninterrupted time with whoever it is I’m meeting with. This came easy to me in large part because of how others had shown me this kind of love and care throughout my life.
My mother would take me out as a child, teen, and now as a young adult simply because she loves me. Not to ask me for a favor, not to help her with something, but simply to spend time with me because she loved me.
My pastors would arrange weekly meetings with me that aimed to encourage me, admonish me, and remind me that I was cared for not because of what I brought to our church in terms of gifts and service, but simply because of who I was.
Yet it came to my attention this year that I had failed to prioritize God in this same way. I believed that because God was infinite in grace and mercy, His promises were unending, and that I was loved because of Jesus and not my works, that I would be okay to miss a few quiet times! What could be the big deal, right? I would say a quick prayer in the morning drive to work and go on about my day. Slowly but surely I forgot to meet with God at all.
Prayers were few and far between, Bible reading had all but ceased, and I would lose the motivation to talk to my friends about all that God was doing in my life. I was running on fumes and routines that I thought would work because they did in the past. I had reduced God down to a checklist and a quota to meet rather than a person to enjoy and delight with.
Maybe you’re in a similar spot. Maybe you’ve forgotten who God was because of the grief in your life and meeting with Him just reminds you of the pain you wish you could forget. Maybe you’re burnt out and going to God just isn’t cutting it anymore. Or maybe you’ve lost your joy with God because it’s been a while since he’s answered your prayer. Whatever the reason is I want to remind you of this.
God is near. God hears your prayers. God welcomes you. God will hold fast to you even when you lose sight of Him. Repeat this prayer with me:
I’m not what I do
I’m not what I have
I’m not what people say about me
I’m the beloved of God
It’s who I am
No one can take it from me
I don’t have to worry
I don’t have to hurry
I can trust my friend Jesus
And share his love with the world.
Jeff Bethke
No matter where you find yourself with God, remind yourselves of these truths and rest in His divine presence. May these words be an encouragement to your soul. Blessings.