Too Much

"Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house."

-Haggai 1:5-9

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

-Matthew 11:28-30

I have always been a late bloomer.  Maybe late thinker would be better.  It takes me more time....much more time .....than most people to learn what is right and true.  It seems I have always bulled my way through, not really thinking about what I am doing, just pushing through with this mindless determination to "get it done". 

I know I am probably not in the majority.  I doubt if many of you stayed up most of your lives until 3 am then started again at 6 am.  I think it probably takes a special kind of stupid to go that far. But the basis for how I lived, the stress, the too much to do, the neglecting of self and God for 'stuff ' is probably not isolated to just me.

My son recently recommended a book to me.  He said he had heard about it from someone else and it was a good one.  It is.  It's one I wish I had read 40 years ago. In "Present Over Perfect", Shauna Niequist seems to have written this just for me.  I think God guides us to those writings, to give us a message He is trying to get through to us. He doesn't just do it with writings, He does it with people, sermons, and, I'm finding, most importantly, through the silence.  There is a reason this verse is in the Bible:

 "Be still  and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

-Psalm 46:10

Anyway, so much of what she writes rings true to me.  I imagine there are others it may apply to as well.  I think one of the most profound things this book has said to me( and I'm not finished, I will be reading it twice), is the statement that activity keeps us from feeling.  She stated that if she hustled fast enough, the emptiness would never catch up with her.  Further, she points out that "You can make a drug-a way to anesthetize yourself'- out of anything: working out, binge-watching TV, working, having sex, shopping, volunteering, cleaning, dieting.........these will make you less and less able to connect to the things that matter."

God shows us this in the story in  Luke 10.  It's a story we are all so familiar with that I know I have not made the meaning of it relate to myself.  I haven't taken the time. All I have to say is Mary and Martha, and the story pops into most of our heads.  But have you ever really thought about that story?  Really tried to understand what God was trying to tell us, and then put it into practice in your own life?  Sometimes, 'familiarity breeds contempt'.  But the lesson here applies to all of us, especially now at the Christmas season.  I wonder:  who are we most like?

Martha:   Certain all the cookies are baked

Mary :  Buys some cookies so she has time to play with her kids

Martha: Spends her time decorating and re-decorating so that everything looks perfect

Mary: Lets the kids decorate the tree and then LEAVES the decorations where they placed them

Martha: Volunteers at church and in the community a few nights a week, doing her Christian duty

Mary: Remembers to spend time at rest with her family, maybe starting some new traditions

Those examples may be trite, but you get what I mean.  When we demand 'perfect' of ourselves and our environment, we miss out.  We miss out on the real Christmas, the real life we are meant to live, the real relationship with Christ.  Contrary to the sayings of the 70's , we really can't do it all.  We can do a lot of things fairly well, or a few things very well. That's the truth of the matter.

Traveling back to memories of when I was young.  Yes, I did a good well on my job.  I taught children's groups and choirs at church.  I made sure the laundry was always done, the house was always picked up and clean, and the meals were always prepared.  I thought I was really managing well.  But, in truth, I was exhausted.  3 hours a night most of the time didn't cut it.  I anesthetized myself in many ways, so I did not have to acknowledge what I was doing to myself and my family.  And, most importantly, all my work in the church still did not save me.  I was not actually saved until much later.  Didn't take the time to really know Him.

Many times we put so much stock in the man-made things....cars, homes, tvs, even expectations of others, that we fail to realize what God has given us.  More and more I find my peace in the things He has created.  It's quiet there, and I can hear Him better.  I can let Him talk, because my gaze is on Him and His creation, not the world I have created for myself.  Look for yourself.  Which picture denotes peace to you?

or:

This is truth.  Something I did not believe as a young adult.  We have a choice.   We can "be still and know" or we can spend our lives too busy to know.  To busy to know our families, and our Savior.  And that, my friends, is a tragedy.