Turning Down the Noise
It's so easy for me to be distracted by the many things I need to do, and the more I do, the more there seems that needs done: work, exercise, family obligations, bills, prepare, sleep (what's that???), etc. I can sometimes rise up in the morning with this pressure of "get going", "get DOING!", "RIGHT NOW!!"
And it's not enough, never enough, for all that I MUST do. And putting on my project manager hat, doing 3 Point estimates, I just know it can't be done. What needs to drop off the radar for the day? What needs to be cut out, either temporarily or permanently, so I can keep the main things juggling?
And then there's the "task" of having a quiet time with God, that one-on-one time that I can check off as a magic ward against all the curses and calamities of the day, both those I know about and those to which I'm oblivious.
But when I just rest in His Presence, stop doing and start being, I start to hear Him sing songs over me... songs of love, of joy, of peace... songs to trust in Him. When I stop playing the part of Martha (do, do, do) and act more like Mary (be, be, Be!), I start to live, to relax, to know that He's on my side and He's got the outcome already planned... it's going to be okay! So I relax and realize that some of those previously necessary tasks aren't quite so necessary, some of those formerly desired outcomes are really not so desireable, and that if everything caved in around me, He will shill carry me through, clean me up, and put me back on a path to true success.
So I rest, and reflect and follow His lead to my journal, reviewing what He's taught me the past year, and I read a word He gave me on April 30th:
If My people would just draw into My Presence, I would heal their land. I would give them the peace they desire if they would but let Me wash away their fears. But they choose to watch other things than Me and My ways. So I will bring further discomforts until they are willing to find hope in Me. They have trusted other things, let them find their trust in Me. I AM a God of Hope, of Peace, of Love. Let the man who is called by My Name find Me first, and all other things will be granted unto him. Submit to My rule and you will be made a ruler in this world.
God will bring us victory, either collectively or individually, as we draw into His Presence. My prayer is that it's as a community, and that I'm part of that. So I rest, and I wait, and I listen. Then I do. No magic ward necessary (I was just being sarcastic about that anyway)... just peace in the journey, trusting that He's got my back, and somehow the important things get done.
And it's not enough, never enough, for all that I MUST do. And putting on my project manager hat, doing 3 Point estimates, I just know it can't be done. What needs to drop off the radar for the day? What needs to be cut out, either temporarily or permanently, so I can keep the main things juggling?
And then there's the "task" of having a quiet time with God, that one-on-one time that I can check off as a magic ward against all the curses and calamities of the day, both those I know about and those to which I'm oblivious.
But when I just rest in His Presence, stop doing and start being, I start to hear Him sing songs over me... songs of love, of joy, of peace... songs to trust in Him. When I stop playing the part of Martha (do, do, do) and act more like Mary (be, be, Be!), I start to live, to relax, to know that He's on my side and He's got the outcome already planned... it's going to be okay! So I relax and realize that some of those previously necessary tasks aren't quite so necessary, some of those formerly desired outcomes are really not so desireable, and that if everything caved in around me, He will shill carry me through, clean me up, and put me back on a path to true success.
So I rest, and reflect and follow His lead to my journal, reviewing what He's taught me the past year, and I read a word He gave me on April 30th:
If My people would just draw into My Presence, I would heal their land. I would give them the peace they desire if they would but let Me wash away their fears. But they choose to watch other things than Me and My ways. So I will bring further discomforts until they are willing to find hope in Me. They have trusted other things, let them find their trust in Me. I AM a God of Hope, of Peace, of Love. Let the man who is called by My Name find Me first, and all other things will be granted unto him. Submit to My rule and you will be made a ruler in this world.
God will bring us victory, either collectively or individually, as we draw into His Presence. My prayer is that it's as a community, and that I'm part of that. So I rest, and I wait, and I listen. Then I do. No magic ward necessary (I was just being sarcastic about that anyway)... just peace in the journey, trusting that He's got my back, and somehow the important things get done.
