Slow Down

Edit Below:

I quit my job.

Ok, that’s old news. But, God was leading me to slow down, so I asked Him, “Lord, what do You want me to get rid of in my life?” The answer in July was my job.

You’d think since I’m not working anymore, since I’m ‘home full-time’ that we’re leading this tranquil, serene, peaceful (um, redundant) life. Yeah - no.

There’s schoolwork, church stuff, kids’ activities, a marriage, household responsibilities, family time, ministry etc. ~ Responsibilities, sports/activities, even ministry are all good in and of themselves. There’s definitely positive aspects to each one. However...

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I got to thinkin’, if what I’m doing is keeping me from drawing near to God, it has to go.

There’s a lot of things I’d like to do, but I’m taking some time to “seek first” what He wants me doing… and then the rest will fall into place (Matt. 6:33). I’ve also been challenged:

- to realize “it’s not about me” (it’s not???)

- to examine my motives (is my goal accomplishment or approval?) and

- to evaluate my effectiveness – we can do a lot of things… but we can’t do a lot of things well.

God is using many fronts to challenge me in these areas.

One is the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. No, this is not a book review… but this book is radically transforming my thought process in many areas, stretching my heart muscles and opening my eyes to God’s love for me and what it looks like when someone is CrAzY in LoVe with Him. This is a must-read peeps!!

Another venue God is using to nail down this principle in my heart are some blogs I’ve read recently. Interesting these blogs pop up when He is already stirring my heart – coincidence? I think not. Pete Wilson told Angie Smith at InCourage, ““We need to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.” Bam! That just about sums it up!

Finally, God continually uses music to speak directly to my core. I listen to it loud. It helps me HEAR it ;). Check out this Third Day Song about slowing down… Let me know what you think…

No, I don’t have the answers yet. Still seeking. I’ll prolly post when I do. How about you? How do you manage the chaos of life? How do you decide what stays and what goes?

So, He may ask us to slow down, but doesn't ask us to STOP (and if He did, I would... for a season). I can't imagine a life not serving the Lord, my family and sharing Christ with peeps around me. Guide our hearts, Lord!