12 January 2012

Life Lessons

Here are a few things God has been teaching me lately...

1.  God will not be rushed. Period.

2.  Repentance is good for the soul.  It's even better for keeping a right relationship with my Father.  As my pastor said last Sunday, "Repentance prepares us for the next thing God will do." I had a long list of things that God exposed in my heart the past couple weeks.  I had monsters rising up in me like...worry, idolatry, unbelief, seeking to please people more than God.  You know, just small stuff! Ha!  Not small stuff at all, in fact it was really big stuff that was displeasing to God and wreaking havoc with my sense of peace and purpose.  

3.  I need the gospel. Everyday.

4.  I can only do one thing at a time.  Bringing even more freedom to my soul is the realization that God only calls me to do one thing at a time.  One thing. This sounds so silly, but it has been revolutionary to me this week.  I get so stressed out and anxious when I try to think about what I am expected to accomplish the next month, week, day.  It doesn't seem to matter which task I am doing - I always seem to feel distraught, overwhelmed, behind, even guilty because I'm not working on X, Y, and Z that are also clamoring for my attention.  This isn't healthy. Trust me.  It means that I cannot focus on  the task I am doing. It means I'm not enjoying that task. It means I'm not trusting God. It means I'm distracted. It means I'm not aware of God's presence with me. It means I'm even less productive.  Often times, it means I'm paralyzed by my anxiety, making the current task a chore instead of a delight. Yes, I need to be a good steward of my time. I need to be diligent. I need to work hard. I need to invest in relationship. I need to worship.  I need to be quiet. I need to rest. I need to sometimes do things that I don't particularly enjoy.  I need to be sensitive to God leading me throughout the day.  But wow, the freedom that has come in acknowledging that God is pleased by my one thing.  I can do one thing in an act of obedience and worship to Him.  I can rest in doing that one thing. I can do that one thing well. I can choose to silence those pesky voices that say, 
"You're never going to get this done on time!"  "It's going to be a mess!"  "You should be able to keep it all together."  "You are going to embarrass yourself."  "You are a bad person because your apartment is messy."  "You should have responded to this e-mail weeks ago." "You should be better at this." "You're going to fall apart." "You don't have what it takes." "You are a failure." "You aren't good enough." "So and so isn't going to be pleased with you." You're not going to do a good job." "You don't deserve to rest." "You should be better at this or that."  
Ah yes, those are the voices that mess me up.  However, when I accept that I can only do one thing at a time and that God only wants me to do one thing at a time, my peace is restored.  It is admission that I am not in control.  I repeat, I am not in control. I am not in control.  Jesus holds all things together.  Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the Lord's purpose prevails.  God is sovereign.  God is good, and I can trust Him.  He gives grace moment by moment, not month by month!  His grace is sufficient for one thing. One thing at a time.

5.  God sees me.  He likes to remind me that He sees me.  He gives me just the right verse at just the right time, knowing I need it's prick of conviction or I need it's balm of healing or I need it's burst of encouragement.  He sees me and it makes me feel loved. 

6. He is working out His plan for me. In His time. See #1.

7. Single middle-aged men are becoming more attractive than they used to be. How did that happen?!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about how I have enough time to do what God wants me to do. That He knows how long a day is, and He knows how much energy I have. I really also try to focus on the one thing I'm doing, rather than on ALL the things on my mental list. The blog you just did really makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
Mom

cal+claire said...

Love this and you! I hope we can get together some time soon, I'd love to talk!