Pace of Life

The pace of life. Do you allow life to take you at it’s own pace, or do you determine the pace in which your life moves forward?

Normally, we tend to think that busier is better. Maybe not rushed, even though some people like this pace, but active. When we sit still, it’s either because we’ve been forced to (tell that to my injured knee!) or because it’s a rare break in the steady stream of visits, errands, lists and demands.

Have you ever paused to ask yourself what pace God wants you to move at?

Every. single. time. my schedule gets to full, God reminds me to slow down. I begin to think that, yes, maybe this time, God wants me to stay busy in order to send money here or witness there. It all sounds good! My intentions are, for the most part, to bring God glory in this busyness. But just when I’m settling into my new, busy schedule, God pulls the rug from under my feet and shows me that he wants me to slow it down. He reminds me that even though it might make sense to earn a lot of money, that’s not his plan for me right now. Another gentle reminder that I need to lean on him more heavily because that is what he’s there for. Another reminder that he doesn’t intend for me to be too busy to minister in the fields he’s put on my heart.

When I look for verses about the pace of life, I find ones like:

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” Pslam 23:2

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” Isaiah 30:15

Jesus even tells Martha that she should be more like Mary and just sit and enjoy his presence.

When you read stories of Jesus’ life on earth, I don’t believe you will ever see a hectic schedule, a plate with to many responsibilities, or a rushed pace. The point of Jesus’ life was to build relationships. He didn’t rush, he asked people to stop what they were doing and follow him. He told them that he would provide the water and bread of life they needed. He took time in the early mornings to talk to his Father.

The point of our lives, the very thing that will satisfy the depths of our soul, is to pursue a relationship with God. Having a busy pace to our lives usually means that our priorities are out of balance. It usually means that quiet time with God is either overlooked or, if we have made time for him, it’s quickly forgotten once our busy day gets started.

The last thing we need is to forget what God has spoken to us or even the feeling of his presence. He is what will help us through the day! He gives us the strength in tough situations, he shows us what to say when a friend needs the right words, he helps us to be patient, he reminds us that he is in control, he takes worry and anxiousness away…If we miss out on getting to know him and spending time with him each day because our schedule is to full, we will see our day quickly going downhill. Simply, we can’t afford to put God on the back-burner and busyness makes this happen more often than not!

Action Plan:

• Ask God if there are things, commitments, habits, thought-processes, in your life that you need to pause, if not remove completely, in order to slow down.
• Think about your relationship with God. Are you making it top priority each day? If not, where can you make space for a few minutes with him? If you are already, how can you limit distraction during this time?

 

The world makes us think that giving God time instead of achieving and conquering and accomplishing whatever it is that our human nature wants will not be as fulfilling. Even when we have tasted a bit of Godly fulfillment, it’s easy to be convinced of this. Let’s be honest about what this truly is: This is satan lying to us about God in order to drag us away from the potential God created us with.

Let’s make it a goal to slow our lives down and to allow God to show us what he thinks is important and erase what the world tells us is important.

God’s Covenant

When I left my husband, the feeling that there was a wall between me and any other man was impossible to get rid of. No matter what I tried, no other man could come close to making me feel like my husband had. It didn’t matter what they did, there was something always holding me back from being fully invested in the relationship. It wasn’t a continual comparison, it wasn’t anything specific that just didn’t measure up…there was just a distance between my heart and theirs that I couldn’t shake.

Memories would come up at the most inconvenient times, feelings, longings, heartaches. Even though I refused to admit it, there was a connection that just couldn’t be severed. It felt as though I couldn’t help but love my husband, even when I was trying to do the exact opposite.

Our marriages are meant to be a reflection of God’s relationship with us. That is the actual point of marriage and why God created this deep relationship. The thought of how our marriages and our feelings towards our spouse are meant to mirror God’s feelings towards us, has been rolling around in my mind. If it was this impossible for me to ‘move on’ from my commitment to my husband, even when I wanted so desperately to, how much more is it impossible for God to stop having loving feelings towards us?

I know how it is to try to find a replacement after leaving my husband. Once you have joined your initial spouse in covenant, it cannot be broken. “Until death do us part”. That is what you have committed to, regardless of your spouses behavior or how your feelings (“For better or worse”), or theirs, seem to change. You have agreed before God that you will love them until death. And that is what God holds you to. There will never be a marriage, a boyfriend, a lover, that comes close to filling that place in your heart like your spouse does. Once you have said these vows to God, your initial spouse is tied to your heart with a spiritual bond that cannot be cut, regardless of how the world defines your marital status.

God has made a covenant to us as well. He is tied to us with a bond that cannot be severed and, no matter how hard we try running from that bond, we will always have an ache to return to him. God, literally, cannot give up on us. He can’t help but chase after us, it’s built into him to love us passionately, to desire to have us as his own, to want deep, meaningful relationship with us. Once God created us, we had a special place in his heart that just can’t be replaced. He loves us so deeply, so unconditionally, and nothing else can come between that.

I can’t help but love my husband. I know that running from my marriage couldn’t stop that love and I know that, regardless of what he does and how he acts, I will always love him. Because I committed to a covenant with my husband, until death do us part, it will be impossible for me to love anyone else. It’s so amazing to me to know that, if my heart is tied to my husband this strongly, God’s heart is tied to mine even more. There’s nothing I can do to stop his love for me. There’s nothing I can do to stop his commitment to me. Wow. What a overwhelming thought!

 

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

 

I’m working my way through Exodus. It’s been a couple months in this book and I’m on Chapter 5. Go me. I’m not a slow reader, but I have so many books on the go that it’s hard to finish one reading project before I start another…there’s just so many great books out there and so little time!!

The other night I was laying in bed, starting my reading for the evening, and I decided that Exodus would be the chosen book. It wasn’t quite what I was thinking I needed that night, but I felt like I should.

Ever heard that saying “never should on yourself”? I love that saying, so true. But this time it was a good thing that I should on myself.

Chapter 5. Moses has been told by God to go to Pharaoh and tell him to release the Israelites. Aaron goes with him and between verses 1-21 they present this idea to the king of Egypt.

God was pretty clear, he said he would release his people if Moses went to the king and asked him to release them. So when Moses did this, when Moses was obedient to God and Pharaoh didn’t release them…he, instead, made their lives so much worse…the people turned on Moses saying “May the Lord look upon you and judge you!” (vs. 21).

Imagine, this strong, confidant man who has seen a flaming bush in the desert, who has clear and obvious instruction from God. Who has seen his stick turn into a snake, who has witnessed water turning into blood. This man goes before the king of all of Egypt, a king he can see, he can hear and who rules and punishes before his eyes. He can physically touch this king. And he takes this bizarre idea to this king, this idea that everyone would have thought was crazy, and truly believes that Pharaoh will release an entire nation of people because of it. But Pharaoh doesn’t. Matter of fact, he does the opposite. He punishes the people. He makes their lives impossible. He sets expectations that can’t be accomplished and then he beats them when they aren’t completed.

And Moses is confused, hurt even. Why would God do this to him? Why wouldn’t God do what he said he was going to do?

We all know the end result of this story, Moses presents this idea to Pharaoh several times and finally, after it seems like it just couldn’t get any worse, the king releases the nation of Israel.

God didn’t give Moses a timeline. He gave him instructions and a promise. Moses knew what he had seen, he knew he wasn’t crazy, he knew that God existed and had spoken to him. He knew what he knew what he knew. God had told him he would release the Isralites and so he kept going forward in faith, knowing that God would complete his promise.

God doesn’t promise that life will be easy in our obedience. He doesn’t promise that there won’t be suffering. He doesn’t promise that it will happen in the timing we expect. But what he does promise is that he will complete what he has started. He promises that he will be with us every step of the way and he promises that he will show himself when we need it most. All he asks of us is that we continue to do what he has asked of us, even when it doesn’t make sense. Even when there is an entire nation shouting insults at us, asking us to leave them alone…we answer to God. Not to the people around us.

Did you wonder why I put that line in there “He can physically touch this king“? Because sometimes, when we look around and see the disobedience of those around us or lack of movement, we see what is happening in the physical world, we forget that what we can see with our eyes has nothing to do with the work God is doing in the spiritual realm. You can see what is around you, you can’t see God, and some times, most of the time, it’s easier to trust what you can see rather than trust what an invisible God has told you.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

God asks us to walk in faith, to trust him and to not pay attention to what we can see with our physical eyes.

“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Romans 8:24-25

God works in and with the impossibilities. He works beyond what we can see with our eyes. And he wants all the glory. He wants to bring us to a place where all we can do is give credit to him. Where there is no other way that we succeeded other than by his hand.

God will do what he has said he will do. It won’t be in our timing. It won’t be how we expect. But he will move mountains, he will set the captives free, he will bring us to the land he has promised and he will show us miracles along the way.

Our God is good. Our God is loving. All we need to do is be obedient, put one foot in front of the other, listen, breathe, walk with him and watch him work. He has never promised that it will be easy, but he has promised to carry us through.

 

I cry out to God the Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

Psalm 57:2

I turned to my devotional book today and saw this verse. Perfect timing, for one thing, as I had just had a fight with my mom and was actually crying out to God because of my frustration with myself. But as I read the verse from my bible instead of the devotional book, I noticed that I had previously highlighted it and underlined the words “his purpose”.

Isn’t it interesting how we will read the same verse multiple times and each time something different jumps out. Tonight the words “God, who fulfills his purpose for me” were the words that jumped out.

God has a purpose for our lives, it’s not about our purpose or our path or our goals. Our life is about fulfilling God’s purpose for us. But the greatest thing about this verse is that it’s even bigger than God having a purpose for us. This verse says that God himself will fulfill his purpose in our lives. If we allow him to, God will take control of the direction of our lives and fulfill his purpose in it for us. Isn’t that amazing? We can actually just sit back and allow him to control our situations, circumstances and life direction, and he will do the work for us. It’s that simple. Notice I didn’t say it’s “easy”, because giving up control of your life and surrendering your plans to God goes against our human nature. But once we do it, we realize that it’s as simple as trusting him through everything that happens around us and to us. It’s not easy, because it’s not normal, but it’s really simple.

It’s simple because we can trust that in everything God’s hand is working. He knows every thing that happens to us and he knows our needs, desires and wants. It’s simple because if we trust with every step that God will make clear what we are meant to do and where we are meant to go, God will work in our lives in order to bring us fulfillment and also to bring him glory. It’s simple because when we start to realize just how huge God is, and that his hand is in everything anyways, we will also realize that fighting his plans or making ones without him is really making life so much harder than surrendering to him.

But this isn’t easy because it goes against the independence that not only are humans born with but that we are taught throughout life. We are taught to be strong, independent individuals. “Looking out for number one”.

Psalm 57:2 says that God will fulfill his purpose in our lives. We don’t have to do it! He has a plan for us, and God himself will accomplish that plan. It also says that the author cries out to God. So do that! Cry out, yell out, scream out if you have to! Be honest with God and communicate daily and continually to him and he will answer you. God wants your communication, he wants you to get to know him and to talk to him. That’s how we draw closer to him and that’s how we start to see answered prayer.

The bible says that part of our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:18) is praying in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests. So let’s do that, let’s dress ourselves in our spiritual armor, pray continually in the Spirit and trust that God will work for us to fulfill our purpose in life.

 

God’s timing. When did anything in the Bible ever happen in anything else but God’s timing? When Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, it wasn’t in his timing that the situation changed, it was at the very last second…God’s timing. Going back even further, when Abraham and Sarah conceived Isaac…it wasn’t in their timing! Sarah was 90 years old and in her husbands words, beyond her prime. It was God’s timing though. It didn’t make sense to the humans in the story, but it made every bit of sense to God. What about Rebecca, praying for a child while she watched her sister, Leah, have son after son after son…She must have questioned God’s timing continuously. What about Hannah praying for children or the Israelites and the Egyptians, or Joseph, or Saul on the Damascus Road…

In each story, and the list could be as long as my arm, God’s timing turned out to be the best timing. It rarely made sense as the individuals were going through their lives, but when it all panned out, it turned out that God knew what he was doing and his timing was best.

After I left my husband I know that people were praying for my return. I’ve had people tell me that they were praying for my eyes to be opened, for me to be able to see what I was doing. In their opinion, their prayers should have applied to me two years ago, as soon as I left my husband. God should have listened to them as they were praying for me and, at that moment, zapped me with those blessings. But it didn’t happen that way. It took two years for me to go through my trials and to run away from God and my marriage, in order for me to be blessed (finally!) with seeing eyes and hearing ears. This was highly inconvenient for the people praying for me, it made no sense, and it likely still doesn’t make any sense to them. Why did it have to take two years? But does this mean that it wasn’t in God’s timing? Does this mean that their prayers weren’t answered?

No. Far from it.

It means that God’s timing isn’t our timing. It means that God heard their prayers and their prayers were answered.

Someone once told me that prayers are like drops of water going up to heaven. They’re kept in a bowl and once they fill that bowl, the answered prayers overflow and pour out. I love that visual. Prayer is about continually trusting that God has perfect timing and will apply your prayers when he sees fit. You only need to keep on praying. Just because our prayers aren’t answered at the exact right time, in our opinion, doesn’t mean that God isn’t hearing them or that he isn’t planning on answering them. It just means that his timing is his timing. He will answer your prayers in his way and his time. And it. will. be. perfect.

There is a reason that God chooses not to answer prayer at specific times. His eyes are always on you, his ears always hear your voice, but sometimes it feels as though he’s just not there. He is! He wants to hear your concerns, your praise, your requests, your worship. But he may choose not to answer your prayers in your timing. He only asks that we have the perseverance to push forward and ignore our feelings about his presence. We need to ignore what our human emotions are telling us and have faith that he is beside us continuously and answering our prayers in his time and his way. And it. will. be. perfect.

Our God is a God of healing. A God of miracles. A God of the impossible. A God of restoration. He loves us with a love we can’t even fathom. He chases us with a fervor we couldn’t attempt. He will never leave us and his plans are only for the best for us. If we allow ourselves to surrender to him and allow him to take over our lives, we will be amazed at the fulfillment we feel. Not only that, but we will be amazed at the simplicity life takes. It’s hard to trust an unseen God to take control of our lives, but it’s even harder to continually push forward through life against the current. When we learn to release control to God, the God that knows you better than anyone else and only wants the best for you, we will begin to see miracles in our lives. And it. will. be. perfect.