Are You Too Busy for God?
Welcome to another post on the Still in the Storm Substack.
Are you selective when it comes to the things of God?
Most of us fallen humans are. We pick and choose what we want to listen to.
But if we are to make ourselves a living sacrifice to the Lord then that means all of our lives each and every day.
It means that we accept that He is in full control.
That we must eliminate all of our expectations of how things will go.
That all things which come into our lives will have gone through His sovereign hands before they get to us.
All things. Not just the ones we can most easily swallow.
No matter what comes into our lives. No matter how frustrating it is.
It’s all from God and it all will work for good according to His purpose.
He desires a people who are unreservedly open to Him.
If we want all that He offers then we must freely give all of ourselves.
Jesus was never in hurry.
He was never rushed. He never ran.
It’s one of the more remarkable things about His life in the flesh.
We Christians today don’t reflect that very well.
Our lives are… Well, they are a mess.
Let’s be honest. They are.
We have bought into the idea that we have to be constantly going.
Our schedules dictate that we almost always have to be somewhere.
If you have children you know what I mean.
An almost endless stream of activities each day.
There is no time for rest. No time for the Lord.
Yet, I don’t think this is what the Lord desires of us.
I’m just as guilty as anyone.
I find myself in the car all the time rushing from one activity to another.
It’s hard not to be anxious and frustrated when someone gets in front of us going very slow.
We might even lose our temper.
But that was not so of the Lord. You just don’t see it.
It wasn’t because He was forced to do it either.
The Father didn’t say, “Thou shall not run” or “Thou shall go slow”.
He was in a state of constant inner peace.
That’s what we are missing.
He knew the sufficiency of the One who dwelt within Him.
He was fully obedient to the Father for all things and in so doing the Father provided all things to Him.
Jesus tells us to not worry or be anxious about what to eat or what to wear.
That if the birds and the flowers are taken care of how much more will Our Father in Heaven take care of His children.
He goes on to tell us to seek first the Kingdom and all those things will be given to us.
How do we know that will work?
Look at Jesus. That is exactly what He did.
He didn’t run. He didn’t worry about what to wear or what to eat.
He was anxious for nothing.
How? Why?
He knew His Father would take care of it if He put His Father’s work first.
It bears repeating that Jesus was fully obedient to the Father.
He did not move, speak or act without the direction of the Father.
Wherever the Father was, that’s where He was.
Whatever the Father said, that’s what He said.
The most important in the whole world is the presence of God, which for us now is in Jesus Christ.
If you want to live the Christian life, be part of the Lord’s work, and part of the body of Christ (the church) then it’s imperative that the Lord is present.
He has always wanted to dwell or tabernacle amongst the people, now His children. That’s His heart.
But we being who we are as humans tend to go right on without Him and try to do the work ourselves.
I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what you do or how well you do it or how many people you get to join you.
If the Lord isn’t present there is no Spirit and there is no Life.
We must be obedient to Him.
To go where He goes. To go when He goes.
Even to stop when He stops, that we may gain a new knowledge of Him.
To wait on Him that He is always with us.
After all, the Christian life is His life lived in us.
Perhaps now you can see why the Lord may want to slow us down or even bring us to a stop sometimes.
We want all the Lord offers but, only when it’s convenient for us.
Well I have something to tell you.
If you live like most people do these days then it will never be convenient.
You have to slow down and make time for what is important, which in my humble but accurate opinion is being in the presence of the Lord.
We all have the same amount of time each day.
It’s how we use it that matters.
Lately, I keep getting stuck behind slow drivers.
And each time I usually get frustrated.
But the other day it dawned on me that I was being selective.
I didn’t like it so I was ignoring it.
Yet, if all things go through God’s hands before they get to us then this too must be of Him.
I need to slow down. We all need to slow down.
If we trust in He who is all things and gives all things then we will be ok.
We have a Father in Heaven who wants us to know that it will be ok.
He always has our backs. We can count on Him.
We don’t have to rush. We don’t have to hurry. We don’t have to run.
Rest in the Lord. Be still once in a while and know that He is God.
If He is with us then we can be sure that no one is against us.
Let me know what you think in the discussion below.
Talk soon,
Mike
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Brilliant article and so apt for these times where everything is time urgent. We thought technology would make our lives easier but the opposite has happened. 24/7 news; social media 24/7; mobile phones means we are always contactable. This is not a healthy way to live. Step away from the world you do not have to dance to the world’s tune. Take time!
Love this Mike it’s right where I’m doing my upmost to STOP doing two things; one multi tasking , not possible to do 2 things and be engaged with them at the same time they both suffer. Putting aside distractions, esp those that pull me away from prayer, devotions, Bible study or even Christian YTube content! Spending time in Andrew Murray’s Waiting on GOD HELPS tremendously. Also Scripture to remind & encourage my self. I’ll drop two I use every day lately. Love your blog insightful & challenges me to look at myself. & rise above them. : 2 verses I love…
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
(Coversation is also translated the way we live)