Scriptures: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
A pickup swirled in and cut in front me on the freeway. It startled me but did not make me panic because I kept a good distance between my car and the car before mine. But the mini-van moving slowly in the lane left to mine was frightened because the pickup cut in so fast that it looked as though it was going to hit the mini-van.
So, the mini-van honked in protest. You would think the pickup driver would apologize for driving that way. Surprise! The driver not only did not apologize, he stretched out his arms outside of the window and gave the mini-van a sign of a pistol, seemed to be saying, “I am going to kill you!” Having seeing this, the mini-van driver pretended that he didn’t see it.
Having witnessed such reckless style of driving, I couldn’t help wondering, “What happened? Why are people often in a rush? What could be so important that human life can be ignored?” Traffic jam is never a thing anyone would welcome. But it is becoming part of our everyday life. I used to think, if I leave home for work at 6 AM, I should be able to get ahead of traffic. But now, it doesn’t work, either!
Not only is the traffic volume growing rapidly, the driving style is getting worse as well. So, more and more traffic accidents result from this reckless style of driving. Sometimes I really wonder if the insufficiency of time is the only reason that accounted for the terrible scene on the freeway. I suspect that the pace of modern life has successfully moved everyone’s heart into a higher gear, the high speed gear. People seem to be always onto something. If, for whatever reason, a slot on the schedule book becomes available, very few people will slow down and enjoy a time to do nothing but rest.
To some extent, I think people are adapting and adopting the view that one’s value is determined by his / her accomplishments, as defined by the number of tasks completed. As a result, doing nothing is worse than a waste. It’s almost like a sin, continuously haunting us until we do something about it. So, whenever time is available, our minds automatically look for something else to fill the blank.
We face challenges from without, the demand for our time and attention from our job, family and others, and from within, our own expectation for self-actualization. Whether it makes sense is a totally different issue. The net result is, even for Christians, we are constantly occupied by things of this world, and sometimes by church ministries.
No wonder we constantly feel tired and worn out, not having enough time to do the things we need, like rest or time with spouse and children, and definitely not having enough time to be with the Lord and enjoy His joy and peace. God said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) He commanded us to be still before Him and meditate on the sovereignty He has over all things.
But, prior to this commandment, there was an invitation to us to “come and see the works of the Lord.” (Psalm 46:8) We have been invited to observe the works of God. Unfortunately, we’ve been so busy that, though we see with our eyes the things He has laid before us, we never observe and perceive with our hearts the works of the Lord. This observation is a requirement to fulfill the commandment.
I think it’s high time we examine and reflect on our busyness. Why are we so busy? Does our busyness bring us closer to God? Does our busyness bring us deeper into His joy, peace and all riches He has for us in Christ Jesus?
Prayer Requests:
For busy people
Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank You for blessing each one of us with talents and abilities. As we move through this journey if life, help us not to replace the goals you set for us with the means you have given us. Help us to be still before You, to know You are God, and to know Your plan for us so we may learn to be good and faithful servants of Yours. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
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2 comments:
Peter, wonderful post - as always! Your comment about a person's worth being determined by what they get done is right on. The sad thing is that at the end of such a frantic exercise, people feel worse than when they started. My prayer is that people will come to know that their value is not in what they can do, but in the fact that they are created and loved by Almighty God.
Thanks for this great reminder to slow down and take a much needed spiritual breath.
Amen Peter. Many, many people think their worth is determined by how much we do and it is hard to manage our lives without being influenced by it. Thank you for you reminder to "be still". It is in these still moments God can speak to us but it takes time and effort to bring ourselves to a place of worship where we are listening and to where we can eliminate the "noise" around us.
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