I don't know about you guys, but the last two weeks have felt busier than the last seven months combined. It it weeks like this that make me think about Albert Einstein, who said that the only reason for time was so that everything didn't happen at once - and feel like I must be defying his theoretical laws. I feel like everything is happening at once. I feel like I have so much to do, that there's no time to even breathe. I go to bed and can't sleep because my mind won't stop running through an ever growing list of things I haven't gotten done yet or all of the things I have to do tomorrow. Single people, afterall, don't just take care of themselves. We also take care of the places live in (which includes figuring out exactly what to do about that faucet that is dripping yet again), we take care of the people around us, and we do it by ourselves. So we're busy, busy, busy.
Today I hit the point where I recognized that maybe I'm a little too busy. I've got a lot to do, alright, but I'm doing so much, all the time, and I'm worn out. My body tells me I'm worn out by insisting that I catch up on lost sleep at my desk at work. My mind tells me I'm worn out by losing that clarity I need to remember where to be when, and what to do when I get there. My soul tells me I'm worn out by pointing out that I don't feel God as strongly as I want to. I can't hear Him, because I'm so busy. I find myself asking - when can I just have a break? Why isn't God giving me a break? And the answer to those questions are up to me. It's not really the world that is making me run until I can't anymore. It's me. I'm the one who signs up for every charity that comes my way and I'm the one who takes work home with me. So it stands to reason that I should be the one who finally says I'm going to take time to put all of these busy things aside and I'm going to remind myself that God is right here in the midst of everything if I'll just listen.
So today I came in from teaching a bible class after work and instead of heading straight for my computer, I stepped out on my front porch and I just listened. I didn't start telling God about all of my problems or about how tired I am or how I wish He'd make that leaky faucet go away. I just listened. It's not as easy as it sounds, but if you try it, I think you'll be completely caught off guard at how good it feels, almost instantly. Physically feel God in your heart. Be still. Listen to the wind move around and through the trees around you or listen to the birds. Feel something stir in your heart that isn't in the form of words. Maybe it will just take you five minutes. Maybe you'll let God carry you for thirty minutes. Maybe an hour. The point is that you're putting all of that busy-ness, all of that noise, around you and inside of you, aside long enough to hear God whispering. When you go back to the world, you might be surprised at how suddenly, you can handle things better. I often leave my few minutes of listening with a renewed sense of courage to face what was so unbearable moments ago. That's God. Sometimes I leave my listening place with a plan on how to handle things that seemed unmanageable before. That's God. The whole world isn't my burden to take on. God's taking care of it. I know this, because today, when I turned my cell phone off, and left all of my noisy busy-ness in the house...
He whispered it to me.
Today I hit the point where I recognized that maybe I'm a little too busy. I've got a lot to do, alright, but I'm doing so much, all the time, and I'm worn out. My body tells me I'm worn out by insisting that I catch up on lost sleep at my desk at work. My mind tells me I'm worn out by losing that clarity I need to remember where to be when, and what to do when I get there. My soul tells me I'm worn out by pointing out that I don't feel God as strongly as I want to. I can't hear Him, because I'm so busy. I find myself asking - when can I just have a break? Why isn't God giving me a break? And the answer to those questions are up to me. It's not really the world that is making me run until I can't anymore. It's me. I'm the one who signs up for every charity that comes my way and I'm the one who takes work home with me. So it stands to reason that I should be the one who finally says I'm going to take time to put all of these busy things aside and I'm going to remind myself that God is right here in the midst of everything if I'll just listen.
So today I came in from teaching a bible class after work and instead of heading straight for my computer, I stepped out on my front porch and I just listened. I didn't start telling God about all of my problems or about how tired I am or how I wish He'd make that leaky faucet go away. I just listened. It's not as easy as it sounds, but if you try it, I think you'll be completely caught off guard at how good it feels, almost instantly. Physically feel God in your heart. Be still. Listen to the wind move around and through the trees around you or listen to the birds. Feel something stir in your heart that isn't in the form of words. Maybe it will just take you five minutes. Maybe you'll let God carry you for thirty minutes. Maybe an hour. The point is that you're putting all of that busy-ness, all of that noise, around you and inside of you, aside long enough to hear God whispering. When you go back to the world, you might be surprised at how suddenly, you can handle things better. I often leave my few minutes of listening with a renewed sense of courage to face what was so unbearable moments ago. That's God. Sometimes I leave my listening place with a plan on how to handle things that seemed unmanageable before. That's God. The whole world isn't my burden to take on. God's taking care of it. I know this, because today, when I turned my cell phone off, and left all of my noisy busy-ness in the house...
He whispered it to me.
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalms 46:10
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