We were cleaning out cabinets, and found one of my favorite books that I thought I had lost. A friend sent me "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer back in 2007. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's one of those you go back to over and over.
I love this line written about Tozer's legacy (I don't know who wrote it): "Quietness of the soul, the fruit of truly seeking God, is seldom found in twentieth-century Christians. Far too many have come to accept turbulence of soul as the norm and have ceased to seek God with their whole hearts."
I think we all do this. We think that this fast-pace is "just the way it is", so we surrender to it. We do not realize the cost of such thinking, and what it robs from us. It's the way everyone else does it, and it's the cultural norm to do all you possibly can, to work harder, longer. It's rewarded and encouraged.
But it's also exhausting. It drains us and steals our lives.
As God has called our family to a slower pace of living in our current season, I often struggle against this, wondering if we are "doing enough".
Our time is a gift from God. Every minute, every second is from Him. He expects us to be stewards of this gift with purpose and intention. The only way we can know how to best steward the time He gives us is to ask Him. He really wants us to know! In this world, especially in the dizzying busyness and noise of our American culture, it is like we are out in the wilderness, trying aimlessly to find our way through. Things come at us so fast we are just trying to keep up.
God knows the way through the wilderness. He can see things we can't. Things are not as they seem. We do not realize that the only way to really "work smarter" is to let Him lead.
I think part of the reason we do this- at least I know this is true for me- is that we are afraid of what He will ask us to do.
We must move past this faulty thinking.
We must trust what God's Word says- that He created us in love, that He saved us because He wanted to. He knows the best, most fulfilling life for us. It's like we're a hammer trying to be a wrench. We are created for God's glory, not our own. But here is the thing about this truth that I often forget- if we were created for God's glory, and it's the way we were designed to live by our Creator, of course it is where we will find the most fulfillment. We are created to love Him and be loved by Him. He has so much He wants to give us!
I know that for many years I thought going this route would make my life less fun. I had, and still have at times, a condition one of my friends calls ATMS: Afraid to Miss Something. What I am learning is that although there are many "good" ways to spend my time- ways that look really good- God has a "best" way for each day and each season. And His ways are much less tiring! Do you know how awesome it is to focus on one thing at a time? Who knew?
"Perhaps the continued usefulness of this book (The Pursuit of God) can be attributed to the writer's discovery that to seek God does not narrow one's life, but brings it, rather, to it's highest possible fulfillment."
I have found this statement to be true. Each day I have remind myself that God loves me and wants the best for me. He wants that for you, too. Trust that He knows the way and wants to show you. He yearns for us to walk our days with Him, covered by His love and led by His Spirit.
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