Anyone else out there feeling antsy or easily distracted? How about overstretched and overwhelmed? I have heard from so many circles of people that life has been full past it’s limits recently. The end of school year, start of new seasons in life, the expectations of summer – and how to fill it. And fill it we so often do. We are determined to keep the kids occupied or take advantage of ‘good weather’, so we plug in as many extras as we can. And life begins to exist on a thin platform of adrenalin and false peace.
What I have to remind myself when life starts to spin too fast is that I (or me and my husband) get to choose our yes and our no. We get to set our pace. And that means setting the plans and the opportunities before God – daily – and asking where to say yes or no. It means not overscheduling so that you leave room for His genuine peace and possibility to move in. Holy Spirit can’t fill a void that isn’t there. Are you asking? If you feel yourself bristle at the idea of asking God permission for your plans, then you might need to check your pride level. He’s our good Father. Why wouldn’t you ask Him where to spend your time, energy, finances and self?
Sometimes we don’t ask simply because we don’t want to hear ‘no.’ No hurts our ego, it bruises our independence. But if we say that we trust Him with our lives – surely we can trust His direction on how we spend our time?
In recent months I got caught up mentally and emotionally in wondering if I was investing in the right direction. My heart was still wanting to be invested, but the fruit was seeming so very small. And so I began praying about whether it was time to cut loose and move on. Was I overstretching myself in a direction God didn’t want me to go anymore?
And His answer came in multiple forms over a few months, coming from different directions.
Stay the course.
In Exodus 4, Moses doubts, asking God, “But what if they don’t believe me or pay attention to me? They might say to me, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you!’”
The Lord said to him, “What’s that in your hand?”
Moses replied, “A shepherd’s rod.”
The Lord said, “Throw it down on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back from it.
In 1 Kings 17 we see Elijah sent to a widow in Zarephath.
So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.
Moses and the widow doubted. They were skeptical. They were distracted by the expectations. Moses was worried what people would say. He was discrediting himself over and over again. The widow was worried that she couldn’t meet the need. She was hopeless and ready to die.
And in their doubt, their fear, their hopelessness and insecurity – God meets them. Their gaze is focused on ‘there’, on the end picture. Moses was envisioning whether he could be successful or not and was talking himself so much in circles that it resulted in a paralysis. God wanted him to say yes to ‘here’ first. The widow hears Elijah’s request for bread and she sees & declares that she has no bread! It feels like God has asked her for something that she doesn’t have, and the widow sounds almost spiteful about it.
God answers Moses by redirecting him – what is in his hand, what does he already have to be obedient with. God answers the widow (through Elijah) by telling her she won’t run out – use what she already has to be obedient with.
What is in your hand right now, in this season? Ask God to cut through the distractions, the crazy calendar, the demanding job and the crying children. Don’t get caught up in where you are going. Don’t get so intent on ‘there’ that you miss ‘here’. Because ‘here’ is all you have. You progress forward and that becomes the new ‘here’.
So be here. And be faithful with what is in your hand.
For He is here. Now. In the midst of 'here' He is breathing, He is moving.
Lord, we ask for Your correction, Your focused direction & wisdom as we move into the summer months. We pray that we will not squander them waiting for 'there' or indulging in order to disappear altogether. Soften our hearts to hear Your voice intimately, daily. We seek You with our first fruits. We seek you with our weary arms outstretched. Meet us here, Jesus.
Amen.
Worship: 'Surely Now,' by Rock City Worship
Breath Prayer: (Breathe In) I will be still and know, (Breathe Out) that You are God
Comments