You may know the classic hymn, "Be Thou My Vision"--the one with the first verse that ends, "Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,/Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light." St. Paul expressed roughly the same thought in one of the most succinct verses in Scripture--1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually."
Truly, is God the dominant Subject in your mind--to the point where even your dreams are full of godly thoughts?
I for one have a long way to go toward that ideal. When tempted to fretting and other sins of thought, nine times out of ten I either give them full indulgence or retreat into irrelevant daydreams, rather than redirecting my mind toward the Source of all comfort. The former is the old natural-feeling approach, after all; and who, being already stressed out, wants to expend yet more energy working on new thought habits?
All the more reason not to wait for a crisis before laying the foundation of a consistent-prayer reflex.
Many have found it a good starting point to focus on God for the last waking hour of each day; instead of watching the news before bed, they gave that time over to Bible reading, quiet music, and prayer. They subsequently reported sleeping better--and finding their minds more readily tuned to God as the next day began.
Why not try sleeping on God tonight and see if you don't wake in awareness of Him tomorrow?
Lord, this day draws to an end:
Let my mind cease from its churning
And from each concern still burning--
Free my sleep from toss-and-turning;
Let me rest in You, my Friend.
Lord, the morning breaks anew:
Waking thoughts my mind are filling--
Let them not bring dread and chilling,
But let me in joy rise willing,
Freshly eager to serve You.
Lord, through night and daylight hour,
Through each day this world is turning,
Tune my ears to You in yearning:
Let my heart be always learning,
Ever strengthened by Your power.
Showing posts with label rest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rest. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2013
Friday, March 2, 2012
Peace and Rest
This Lent, my home church is doing a sermon series on "Decisive Moments in the Life of Christ," which began last Sunday with "Birth" and used the text for the Annunciation. Therefore, this week's poem, which was written during Advent 2010, serves as a nod to my favorite fellowship as well as a reminder of what should be the spirit of Lent--slowing down a bit and giving God time to speak to us.
Though sometimes I wish it, few of us have the option of going into the wilderness for forty days as Jesus did. But we can declare a "wilderness time" of sorts in our daily life. I recently read an article, "A Desert Time or a Dry Season?," that cast beautiful light on what a Christian's "desert time" should be--not the desolation and deprivation most of us picture, but "a time of refreshing, a quiet season, a time that I came to know the still small voice of the Lord, and to recognize His voice from the voice of man and my own voice." If we can't get away physically from our ordinary lives, we at least can make a special effort to put aside most of the nonessentials, to cry out to God from the depths of our hearts, to seek out that special and sacred "prayer place" that may be waiting quietly to be discovered within easy walking distance. We can take extra prayer time for the express purpose of asking God to teach us to thirst for His Word and His presence above all material concerns.
As many a Southwesterner will testify, the desert can be a place of beauty as well as of mystery, awe, and--perhaps most important of all--peace and silence. It is in the wilderness that we find God's rest.
Life moves at a frantic pace,
Everything a speeding race;
Pounding hearts fill every chest:
Where can we find peace and rest?
In the world of Roman days,
Life, as now, had fretful ways:
Few did let their strivings cease
When the angels sang of peace.
Christ was born to bring us love,
Flowing pure from Heaven above:
Wise men traveling pathways west
Saw in Him true peace and rest.
From the Manger to the Cross,
Christ walked earth to seek the lost.
Now, as then, the eye that sees
Knows He is our Rest and Peace.
Though sometimes I wish it, few of us have the option of going into the wilderness for forty days as Jesus did. But we can declare a "wilderness time" of sorts in our daily life. I recently read an article, "A Desert Time or a Dry Season?," that cast beautiful light on what a Christian's "desert time" should be--not the desolation and deprivation most of us picture, but "a time of refreshing, a quiet season, a time that I came to know the still small voice of the Lord, and to recognize His voice from the voice of man and my own voice." If we can't get away physically from our ordinary lives, we at least can make a special effort to put aside most of the nonessentials, to cry out to God from the depths of our hearts, to seek out that special and sacred "prayer place" that may be waiting quietly to be discovered within easy walking distance. We can take extra prayer time for the express purpose of asking God to teach us to thirst for His Word and His presence above all material concerns.
As many a Southwesterner will testify, the desert can be a place of beauty as well as of mystery, awe, and--perhaps most important of all--peace and silence. It is in the wilderness that we find God's rest.
Life moves at a frantic pace,
Everything a speeding race;
Pounding hearts fill every chest:
Where can we find peace and rest?
In the world of Roman days,
Life, as now, had fretful ways:
Few did let their strivings cease
When the angels sang of peace.
Christ was born to bring us love,
Flowing pure from Heaven above:
Wise men traveling pathways west
Saw in Him true peace and rest.
From the Manger to the Cross,
Christ walked earth to seek the lost.
Now, as then, the eye that sees
Knows He is our Rest and Peace.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sabbath Spirit
As the week starts to wind down, many of us are already anticipating the weekend. But what are we really anticipating? Time to enjoy our favorite hobbies? Time to surf the Internet? Time to get out of town for a day? Time to catch up on our chores? Time to sleep late?
Or... just "down time," period?
Or do we feel a bit guilty even entertaining that idea? For many of us, weekends are as frenetic as weeks, and Sundays no less than Saturdays. Many people arrive at church irritable over how the kids dawdled getting ready, apprehensive over doing good jobs as ushers or choir singers, and hoping the sermon won't cut into after-church time. Too many people with too many weeks of such attitudes, and you wind up with a congregation lacking in both joy and Christian love, full of plastic smiles and good behavior that hides aching hearts and judgmental spirits.
When God commanded His people to take every seventh day for a Sabbath, what He wanted was for them to pause the "hurry-scurry-flurry" of life long enough to discover the true joy of loving Him and each other with all our hearts. All too frequently, we instead make "worship day" either a dutiful requirement or an excuse to be equally busy with different things--and then squabble over who's right about what. Jesus regarded the legalistic Sabbath-keeping of His earthly days with sadness and anger; one can picture Him still shaking His head today because His people still don't "get it."
Loveless legalism and flippant disregard have their roots in the same problem: trying to define "how rest should work" solely by our own judgment. The Sabbath was intended as a day for us to get in tune with God's judgment, to take time to listen to Him and to absorb the teachings of the Spirit so we can learn to see things eternal as clearly as things temporal.
And to carry that sight into our daily work.
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should bring us joy and peace:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When strivings do not cease,
And when we rush our worship
And squander what is best:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That knows the way of rest!
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should lift our hearts to praise:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When we choose selfish ways
And grumble over matters
Of prayers or music tone:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That seeks Your will alone!
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should bid us seek new heights:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When we chase selfish "rights,"
And help us yearn, wholehearted,
For all You hold in store:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That craves to know You more!
Or... just "down time," period?
Or do we feel a bit guilty even entertaining that idea? For many of us, weekends are as frenetic as weeks, and Sundays no less than Saturdays. Many people arrive at church irritable over how the kids dawdled getting ready, apprehensive over doing good jobs as ushers or choir singers, and hoping the sermon won't cut into after-church time. Too many people with too many weeks of such attitudes, and you wind up with a congregation lacking in both joy and Christian love, full of plastic smiles and good behavior that hides aching hearts and judgmental spirits.
When God commanded His people to take every seventh day for a Sabbath, what He wanted was for them to pause the "hurry-scurry-flurry" of life long enough to discover the true joy of loving Him and each other with all our hearts. All too frequently, we instead make "worship day" either a dutiful requirement or an excuse to be equally busy with different things--and then squabble over who's right about what. Jesus regarded the legalistic Sabbath-keeping of His earthly days with sadness and anger; one can picture Him still shaking His head today because His people still don't "get it."
Loveless legalism and flippant disregard have their roots in the same problem: trying to define "how rest should work" solely by our own judgment. The Sabbath was intended as a day for us to get in tune with God's judgment, to take time to listen to Him and to absorb the teachings of the Spirit so we can learn to see things eternal as clearly as things temporal.
And to carry that sight into our daily work.
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should bring us joy and peace:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When strivings do not cease,
And when we rush our worship
And squander what is best:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That knows the way of rest!
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should lift our hearts to praise:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When we choose selfish ways
And grumble over matters
Of prayers or music tone:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That seeks Your will alone!
The dawning of the Lord's Day
Should bid us seek new heights:
Forgive us, God our Father,
When we chase selfish "rights,"
And help us yearn, wholehearted,
For all You hold in store:
Give us a Sabbath Spirit,
That craves to know You more!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wait and Work
"Finding God's will" has never been my idea of a well-defined task. I seem to constantly drift toward one of two extremes: refusing to move for anything short of an audible voice from Heaven or taking the slightest inner twinge of interest as God's go-ahead signal. It must come from having a "student temperament" that loves learning on nearly any topic yet demands well-defined assignments before doing anything with that learning.
Christians who are surer of God's specific call on their lives often suffer a different problem: call it "crash and burn syndrome." Typically, it hits those who embark on a ministry with great promise; achieve one "great work" after another at first; then, when everyone least expects it, seem to drop overnight into severe depression, or, worse, sin. Usually, the warning signs were there, at least for the "victim"--loss of passion and interest; increasing discouragement and fatigue; and, worst of all, the gradual disappearance of time alone with God--but the active-motion life, the seeming urgency of keeping up with all that "needed" to be done "for God," had become so central to life that it eclipsed everything else. Even the need for paying direct attention to the God Whom all this was supposedly being done for.
I'm not the first to observe that our "work for God" often crowds out our love for Him. How would you feel about having a child who always chose "getting things done" over spending time with you, on the insistence that he only wanted to make you proud of him, to prove himself worthy of you? Wouldn't you say, "Sweetheart, you don't have to prove anything to me. I love you and just want to be with you"?
There's no question that God has tasks for us to do. But too few of us recognize the vital interrelation between doing His work and listening for His voice.
God's good things come to those who wait--
Those trained in being still,
Who tune their minds to things of Christ,
And seek to learn His will.
God's good things come to those who work--
Those serving in His name,
Who seek His will above all else,
And feel the Spirit's flame.
To wait for God is still His work
When done with fervent prayer;
To work for God is still to wait,
As rush is never there.
To do His will as He commands--
To let Him set the pace--
Means work and rest are done for Him,
Each in its proper place.
Our Lord is never in a rush,
Nor is He ever late.
Our Father guides us step by step;
We work, and yet we wait.
Lord, let us never run ahead,
Nor drag our feet behind
The mission You have set for us,
Which through Your grace we find!
Christians who are surer of God's specific call on their lives often suffer a different problem: call it "crash and burn syndrome." Typically, it hits those who embark on a ministry with great promise; achieve one "great work" after another at first; then, when everyone least expects it, seem to drop overnight into severe depression, or, worse, sin. Usually, the warning signs were there, at least for the "victim"--loss of passion and interest; increasing discouragement and fatigue; and, worst of all, the gradual disappearance of time alone with God--but the active-motion life, the seeming urgency of keeping up with all that "needed" to be done "for God," had become so central to life that it eclipsed everything else. Even the need for paying direct attention to the God Whom all this was supposedly being done for.
I'm not the first to observe that our "work for God" often crowds out our love for Him. How would you feel about having a child who always chose "getting things done" over spending time with you, on the insistence that he only wanted to make you proud of him, to prove himself worthy of you? Wouldn't you say, "Sweetheart, you don't have to prove anything to me. I love you and just want to be with you"?
There's no question that God has tasks for us to do. But too few of us recognize the vital interrelation between doing His work and listening for His voice.
God's good things come to those who wait--
Those trained in being still,
Who tune their minds to things of Christ,
And seek to learn His will.
God's good things come to those who work--
Those serving in His name,
Who seek His will above all else,
And feel the Spirit's flame.
To wait for God is still His work
When done with fervent prayer;
To work for God is still to wait,
As rush is never there.
To do His will as He commands--
To let Him set the pace--
Means work and rest are done for Him,
Each in its proper place.
Our Lord is never in a rush,
Nor is He ever late.
Our Father guides us step by step;
We work, and yet we wait.
Lord, let us never run ahead,
Nor drag our feet behind
The mission You have set for us,
Which through Your grace we find!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rest for the Soul
Among "modern-world" Christians, one of the best-known--and least-followed--passages of Scripture is Jesus's words in Matthew 11:28-30: "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.”
Most of us are willing enough to "come to Him" for relief from our burdens--until we realize that He wants to take not only away the frustration of those burdens, but also the idols that frustration feeds on: our dependence on our dreams, earthly riches, and feelings of accomplishment. The actual dreams and riches may or may not have to go with the dependence, but we always fear they will--and that we'll lose a part of ourselves with them. The thought is terrifying to contemplate. As with the cancer patient who's been told it's her breast or her life, we suddenly start wondering if maybe the Physician was mistaken, or if we misunderstood what He said, or if just maybe we can cure ourselves with alternate treatment. Or even if we wouldn't rather die after all.
We were hoping to dictate at least some of our own terms. Instead we get the clear statement, "I can't help you unless you let Me take over completely." And as the full impact of that sinks in, it all but deafens us to His next words, "but what you receive in return will be so much better that you'll never miss what you give up." Even as we hear that assurance, we want to protest, "Yes, but then why can't You give me the better part first so I can let go of the old without feeling any pain at all?"
Perhaps because we could never realize the full joy of the better part without feeling the pain first. Rest is sweetest when exhaustion is genuine.
I heard the Savior say,
“Come now to Me and rest:
Set aside your burdening load,
Learn from Me what way is best.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I took His yoke on me,
And I learned, that by His grace,
Weary hearts can be made free.
I heard the Savior say,
“You carry far too much;
Trade the load you bear for Mine,
And receive My gentle touch.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I put my trust in Him,
And I learned the humble heart
Soon is filled up to the brim.
I heard the Savior say,
“Friend, put your trust in Me:
I will give your soul true rest,
And will set your spirit free.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I took His own for mine,
And I found that new load light
In the power of Love Divine.
Most of us are willing enough to "come to Him" for relief from our burdens--until we realize that He wants to take not only away the frustration of those burdens, but also the idols that frustration feeds on: our dependence on our dreams, earthly riches, and feelings of accomplishment. The actual dreams and riches may or may not have to go with the dependence, but we always fear they will--and that we'll lose a part of ourselves with them. The thought is terrifying to contemplate. As with the cancer patient who's been told it's her breast or her life, we suddenly start wondering if maybe the Physician was mistaken, or if we misunderstood what He said, or if just maybe we can cure ourselves with alternate treatment. Or even if we wouldn't rather die after all.
We were hoping to dictate at least some of our own terms. Instead we get the clear statement, "I can't help you unless you let Me take over completely." And as the full impact of that sinks in, it all but deafens us to His next words, "but what you receive in return will be so much better that you'll never miss what you give up." Even as we hear that assurance, we want to protest, "Yes, but then why can't You give me the better part first so I can let go of the old without feeling any pain at all?"
Perhaps because we could never realize the full joy of the better part without feeling the pain first. Rest is sweetest when exhaustion is genuine.
I heard the Savior say,
“Come now to Me and rest:
Set aside your burdening load,
Learn from Me what way is best.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I took His yoke on me,
And I learned, that by His grace,
Weary hearts can be made free.
I heard the Savior say,
“You carry far too much;
Trade the load you bear for Mine,
And receive My gentle touch.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I put my trust in Him,
And I learned the humble heart
Soon is filled up to the brim.
I heard the Savior say,
“Friend, put your trust in Me:
I will give your soul true rest,
And will set your spirit free.”
I gave the Lord my load,
I took His own for mine,
And I found that new load light
In the power of Love Divine.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Just to Sit in God's Presence
It's estimated that 47 million adults in the United States--and as many as 40 percent of children--suffer from sleep deprivation. Overcrowded schedules that get people up early and keep them up late are usually blamed, but that's only part of the story. It's quite possible to spend eight or even nine hours in bed every night and still be sleep-deprived, and it's also possible to have only a few hours of literal sleep and still be adequately rested. A body that never rests, physically or emotionally, while conscious will have a harder time falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting the most out of sleep.
Many people's idea of "rest" is blacking out from utter exhaustion. That's not a Biblical definition. When God gave the command to rest from work one day a week, He didn't say that the day was to be spent in bed. It's quite likely He hoped His people would keep the same number of actual waking hours as on work days, which is what modern medical experts recommend for optimal health, despite the tradition of "sleeping late on Sundays." The sort of rest that was to be observed on the Sabbath involved learning to love God and others better: worshiping, enjoying nature, watching the world go by, light meals and pleasant talk with friends.
It's sad that Judeo-Christian history has repeatedly twisted God's rest time into a long list of "don't do this, don't do that." It's even sadder that we fail to do any resting of the above kind except on our days off, if then. Like Martha, we try so hard to please the Lord through what we do for Him that we can't hear Him urging us to just sit and talk with Him for a while--and we even scold our sisters and brothers for being "lazy" when they decide to take in a little quiet time while there's still work to be done.
It's wonderful if we go to church every Sunday (and to bed every night); but if we have no personal time with God during the week, chances are we'll be in no condition to give Him our attention during the service. It takes considerably less than "seven days without God" to make "one weak."
There's time in this world for labor,
And time in this world for fun:
But just to sit in God's presence
Is a gift like no other one.
Make space in your heart for Scripture,
Make space in your heart for creeds:
But just to savor God's presence
Will supply a great host of needs.
To go to your prayer in duty
Is better than not at all:
But oh, how endlessly sweeter
To respond in love to His call!
Many people's idea of "rest" is blacking out from utter exhaustion. That's not a Biblical definition. When God gave the command to rest from work one day a week, He didn't say that the day was to be spent in bed. It's quite likely He hoped His people would keep the same number of actual waking hours as on work days, which is what modern medical experts recommend for optimal health, despite the tradition of "sleeping late on Sundays." The sort of rest that was to be observed on the Sabbath involved learning to love God and others better: worshiping, enjoying nature, watching the world go by, light meals and pleasant talk with friends.
It's sad that Judeo-Christian history has repeatedly twisted God's rest time into a long list of "don't do this, don't do that." It's even sadder that we fail to do any resting of the above kind except on our days off, if then. Like Martha, we try so hard to please the Lord through what we do for Him that we can't hear Him urging us to just sit and talk with Him for a while--and we even scold our sisters and brothers for being "lazy" when they decide to take in a little quiet time while there's still work to be done.
It's wonderful if we go to church every Sunday (and to bed every night); but if we have no personal time with God during the week, chances are we'll be in no condition to give Him our attention during the service. It takes considerably less than "seven days without God" to make "one weak."
There's time in this world for labor,
And time in this world for fun:
But just to sit in God's presence
Is a gift like no other one.
Make space in your heart for Scripture,
Make space in your heart for creeds:
But just to savor God's presence
Will supply a great host of needs.
To go to your prayer in duty
Is better than not at all:
But oh, how endlessly sweeter
To respond in love to His call!
Friday, November 5, 2010
O, God of Love and Purest Grace
In many ways, material blessings are a spiritual disadvantage; it's easier to "long for the better country" of Heaven (cf. Heb. 11:13-16) when earth has little to offer. The person who has everything he needs in terms of health, family, money, and possessions may find himself in the position of the "rich young ruler" of Mt. 19:16-22--desperately wanting the riches of eternal life but clinging with even greater desperation to the riches of this life.
Had the ruler looked at what he would gain rather than at what he would be giving up, his decision might have been different. Likewise with us: too many Christians never advance beyond the lukewarm stage of commitment because they keep getting stalled by visions of what they have to lose. And forgetting that the day will come when they have to give it up anyway. When our works are tested by fire on the Day of Judgment (1 Cor. 3:11-15), there is going to be a lot of embarrassed squirming among believers who lived for worldly success and left themselves with nothing eternal to show for it.
With that in mind, I encourage you to read today's poem as a prayer for Heavenly vision.
O, God of Love and purest Grace,
Who saves the soul from sin,
Guide us through all our earthly days;
Provide Your strength within.
O, God of Power and endless Might,
Whom none can ever thwart,
Fill us with will to choose the right,
That we may not fall short.
O, God of Joy and Source of Song,
Great Maker of all things,
Lift up our hearts our whole lives long,
As all Creation sings.
O, God of Peace and Source of Rest,
Come, guard Your children’s ways;
Convince our hearts Your way is best,
And help us sing Your praise.
O, God of Hope and Lord of Time,
Who brought the world to be,
Come, be our Strength, and we will shine
Through all eternity.
***
Katherine Swarts's poetry book Where Light Dawns, based on this blog, is now for sale at $10/copy. Send inquiries to kswarts@ix.netcom.com, or, if you're in Houston on November 6, look for Katherine's booth at the Grace Presbyterian arts and crafts fair.
Through all eternity.
***
Katherine Swarts's poetry book Where Light Dawns, based on this blog, is now for sale at $10/copy. Send inquiries to kswarts@ix.netcom.com, or, if you're in Houston on November 6, look for Katherine's booth at the Grace Presbyterian arts and crafts fair.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Burnout Prevention
For me, the manifestation of workaholism isn't finding excuses to skip days off; it's finding excuses to skip breaks during work days. Often the days immediately before days off are the worst. The sooner I finish everything on today's To Do list, the sooner I can start the weekend. The less I have to roll over to Monday, the less I'll have on my mind to interfere with my enjoying Saturday and Sunday.
Except that my mind may have long passed the point of being able to turn off constant preoccupation with "what I have to do next."
It's some comfort to know I have plenty of company. Well-established custom says, "Finish all your work [perhaps a whole life's worth] first, and then you can rest." Many a person who lives by that principle eventually winds up taking a longer rest than he'd planned on--after his physical functions go on strike to protest the constant wear and tear.
We often forget that God gave the Sabbath commandment--not to mention the human body's built-in fatigue indicators--for our benefit, that He meant days off to be genuine times of rest (not just a switch from office work to household chores), that He does want us to "stop work in the middle of something" if that's what our bodies and spirits need. One difference between the Jewish Torah's concept of God and that of contemporary Mesopotamian mythology was that the latter's gods were serious taskmasters; they kept people on earth primarily because humans' daily work furnished religious sacrifices that saved the gods the trouble of preparing their own food. Sad to say, many modern Christians live as if our own God were like that: caring only about what we can do for Him and prone to get irritable if we take time off without a very good excuse.
And while we strive to please Him through our work, He pleads, ignored, for us to stop and get to know Him.
If you feel you're drowning in work, work, work,
Yet seem never to get much done,
You may be hard at work on the wrong "good things"--
Or at too much work on the right one!
God instructed us, yes, to do His work,
But He also gave His command
That we take some regular time for rest,
Just to rest in the palm of His hand.
So take time to work, and take time to pray,
And take time just for fun as well,
And see to your health, and see to your sleep,
And the family with which you dwell,
And your friends in the church, and those outside:
But remember these things above
All the rest--give heed to the Word of God,
And receive and display His love!
It may be, when your earthly days are done,
And you enter the golden gate,
That your Lord's "Well done" for the life you lived
Will depend upon nothing "great,"
Nor on how many hours you prayed or served
As compared to time on "the rest"--
For whenever your heart is fixed on Him,
What you do at that hour is best!
Except that my mind may have long passed the point of being able to turn off constant preoccupation with "what I have to do next."
It's some comfort to know I have plenty of company. Well-established custom says, "Finish all your work [perhaps a whole life's worth] first, and then you can rest." Many a person who lives by that principle eventually winds up taking a longer rest than he'd planned on--after his physical functions go on strike to protest the constant wear and tear.
We often forget that God gave the Sabbath commandment--not to mention the human body's built-in fatigue indicators--for our benefit, that He meant days off to be genuine times of rest (not just a switch from office work to household chores), that He does want us to "stop work in the middle of something" if that's what our bodies and spirits need. One difference between the Jewish Torah's concept of God and that of contemporary Mesopotamian mythology was that the latter's gods were serious taskmasters; they kept people on earth primarily because humans' daily work furnished religious sacrifices that saved the gods the trouble of preparing their own food. Sad to say, many modern Christians live as if our own God were like that: caring only about what we can do for Him and prone to get irritable if we take time off without a very good excuse.
And while we strive to please Him through our work, He pleads, ignored, for us to stop and get to know Him.
If you feel you're drowning in work, work, work,
Yet seem never to get much done,
You may be hard at work on the wrong "good things"--
Or at too much work on the right one!
God instructed us, yes, to do His work,
But He also gave His command
That we take some regular time for rest,
Just to rest in the palm of His hand.
So take time to work, and take time to pray,
And take time just for fun as well,
And see to your health, and see to your sleep,
And the family with which you dwell,
And your friends in the church, and those outside:
But remember these things above
All the rest--give heed to the Word of God,
And receive and display His love!
It may be, when your earthly days are done,
And you enter the golden gate,
That your Lord's "Well done" for the life you lived
Will depend upon nothing "great,"
Nor on how many hours you prayed or served
As compared to time on "the rest"--
For whenever your heart is fixed on Him,
What you do at that hour is best!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Overload Syndrome
It's frequently said that Americans don't get (or take) enough vacation time, that we've forgotten what it's like to just relax. Even forcing ourselves to leave the workplace often doesn't help. I've just finished a three-week "break" and feel as stressed as ever--that time "off" included a family funeral; two crowded airplane flights; too much sightseeing in too little time; a doctor's appointment; a badly timed project deadline made worse by a shortage of research sources (that project is still unfinished, and prayers are appreciated); and, worst of all, a never-ending flood of e-mails (most of them pure junk) and a mailbox that won't let me ignore it four days before it fills up and starts rejecting new messages.
One survey reported that half of U. S. executives skip their vacations entirely to "get caught up on increased workloads." Probably the majority of the other half spend their "vacations" telecommuting. There's no place to hide from bosses or clients anymore; even on cruise ships and wilderness hikes, we see people discussing mergers by cell phone or pounding away at laptop computers. (You can always tell those who are conversing or Web surfing for business from those who are doing it for pleasure; the former are the ones whose fingers and lips move at hyperspeed and who have upward bends in their brows instead of their mouths.)
And all our attempts to "catch up" with the success we're chasing only seem to prove the quote from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass: "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
The place we really want to "get to" is the point where all stress and worry disappears; and human logic says that will be our reward when we finish all our responsibilities. Sad to say, human logic is part of fallen human nature. If we prefer Scripture as an example for our thinking, we can only expect to reach that cherished point of pure rest when ready to depart for Heaven (e. g., Paul in 2 Tim. 4:6-8); and yet, it would be not only unhealthy but sinful to refuse to stop until then. When Jesus made His famous offer, "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" (Mt. 11:28-30), He didn't say, "You'll never have to work again" or "You'll never be tempted to stress again." He offers rest on His terms: the freedom to take breaks before everything is finished; the freedom to do His work rather than being enslaved by the demands of the world or our own lusts and pride. The bad news, to human thinking, is that we have to give up our presumed right to do and get what we want. Say "yes" to God's offer, and you may learn the hard way that His definition of "rest" doesn't always extend to the physical, and that "every decent person is entitled to a long and happy life" is not one of His inviolable rules.
Still, most people who do accept His offer say they wouldn't have chosen differently for anything.
My mind is a whirl of confusion;
My brain jumps from thought into thought.
My life has a million priorities--
With all of them coming to naught.
My brain always dwells in the future:
Try get it to work on one task!
There's so much that I could be doing,
So much that this world has to ask.
I'd love to get everything finished
Within the brief span of a day,
Then sit back and rest for a lifetime--
If only the world worked that way!
The books and the chores and the travel,
Each option that's under the sun:
Of all of the times to be born in,
Lord, why this insane, cluttered one?
But wait: I can hear His voice speaking:
"The stressful life only was new
When Adam was cast from the Garden;
Sin's weight passed from him down to you.
"Each life has its burdens and clutter;
Remember, it never was meant
For this world to be your soul's mansion,
Or make you completely content.
"Your true home is waiting in Heaven;
But even today, I give rest
If you will let Me take your burden
And set you the chores that are best.
"My task is the one that is easy;
My load is the one that is light.
So cast out this world's expectations
And find in Me purest delight!"
One survey reported that half of U. S. executives skip their vacations entirely to "get caught up on increased workloads." Probably the majority of the other half spend their "vacations" telecommuting. There's no place to hide from bosses or clients anymore; even on cruise ships and wilderness hikes, we see people discussing mergers by cell phone or pounding away at laptop computers. (You can always tell those who are conversing or Web surfing for business from those who are doing it for pleasure; the former are the ones whose fingers and lips move at hyperspeed and who have upward bends in their brows instead of their mouths.)
And all our attempts to "catch up" with the success we're chasing only seem to prove the quote from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass: "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
The place we really want to "get to" is the point where all stress and worry disappears; and human logic says that will be our reward when we finish all our responsibilities. Sad to say, human logic is part of fallen human nature. If we prefer Scripture as an example for our thinking, we can only expect to reach that cherished point of pure rest when ready to depart for Heaven (e. g., Paul in 2 Tim. 4:6-8); and yet, it would be not only unhealthy but sinful to refuse to stop until then. When Jesus made His famous offer, "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" (Mt. 11:28-30), He didn't say, "You'll never have to work again" or "You'll never be tempted to stress again." He offers rest on His terms: the freedom to take breaks before everything is finished; the freedom to do His work rather than being enslaved by the demands of the world or our own lusts and pride. The bad news, to human thinking, is that we have to give up our presumed right to do and get what we want. Say "yes" to God's offer, and you may learn the hard way that His definition of "rest" doesn't always extend to the physical, and that "every decent person is entitled to a long and happy life" is not one of His inviolable rules.
Still, most people who do accept His offer say they wouldn't have chosen differently for anything.
My mind is a whirl of confusion;
My brain jumps from thought into thought.
My life has a million priorities--
With all of them coming to naught.
My brain always dwells in the future:
Try get it to work on one task!
There's so much that I could be doing,
So much that this world has to ask.
I'd love to get everything finished
Within the brief span of a day,
Then sit back and rest for a lifetime--
If only the world worked that way!
The books and the chores and the travel,
Each option that's under the sun:
Of all of the times to be born in,
Lord, why this insane, cluttered one?
But wait: I can hear His voice speaking:
"The stressful life only was new
When Adam was cast from the Garden;
Sin's weight passed from him down to you.
"Each life has its burdens and clutter;
Remember, it never was meant
For this world to be your soul's mansion,
Or make you completely content.
"Your true home is waiting in Heaven;
But even today, I give rest
If you will let Me take your burden
And set you the chores that are best.
"My task is the one that is easy;
My load is the one that is light.
So cast out this world's expectations
And find in Me purest delight!"
Friday, May 7, 2010
Have You Grown Weary?
I woke up tired the last couple of mornings, and today I have a queasy stomach on top of that. I'd be inclined to suspect impending illness, except I've learned from experience that such symptoms are more likely than not to be stress-induced fatigue. It must be stress-induced, because it occurs with significantly less correlation to the number of hours I spend in bed each night than to my emotional investment in long To Do lists. It's hard to be confident that God will complete His good work in you (Phil. 1:6) when you're constantly obsessed with fear that you won't complete something or other.
I can imagine Jesus looking at the crowds in first-century Galilee and seeing similar anxious thoughts in their hearts, as He issued His famous invitation: "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" (Mt. 11:28-30). Sounds like a decision that hardly needs making, but for most of us it isn't. Especially not for the long term. Habits, fear of losing things that matter to us, and pride that wants to find its own solutions all stand in the way.
To be honest, I find God's disinclination to clearly state His specific solutions (as they apply to me and my situations) to be more than a little annoying. Although I can't agree with the "antisupernaturalist Christians" who claim God's direct revelations ended with the New Testament and that everyone (however dedicated a believer) who believes God has said something specific to her (however brief and simple) must be imagining things, I can sympathize with the frustration that probably drives some people to this conclusion. Some Christians seem to receive a word of encouragement or guidance from God at every quiet time; myself, no matter how much I pray, I never even seem to get a wordless sense of His Presence. Not even anything that gives me some idea whether I'm right to worry that my cluttered mind or some unconfessed sin is causing the problem.
When one gets to this point, there's only one thing to do. Follow God's advice in Psalm 46:10 to "be still"--which, translated literally, means something like "let go." Let go of your frustrations, let go of the "musts" and "shoulds" that torture your mind, let go of your plans and fears for the future.
Above all, let go of your attempts to figure out how God "should" work. Just relax and let Him do it.
Have you grown weary with earth and its ways?
Do you find scarcely a reason for praise?
Lift up your heart to the Lord of all joy;
That which He gives, no despair can destroy.
Have you grown weary of life’s endless tasks?
Does it seem nothing you do ever lasts?
Offer your hands to the cause of the Lord;
Only His work brings enduring reward.
Have you grown weary of playing life’s game?
Does every day seem just more of the same?
Call on the Lord; ask to see with His view;
Each day with Him is exciting and new.
Have you grown weary with life as a whole?
Do you just crave lasting rest for your soul?
Patience, have patience; in time, God will bring
Life that endures, where He rules as the King.
I can imagine Jesus looking at the crowds in first-century Galilee and seeing similar anxious thoughts in their hearts, as He issued His famous invitation: "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" (Mt. 11:28-30). Sounds like a decision that hardly needs making, but for most of us it isn't. Especially not for the long term. Habits, fear of losing things that matter to us, and pride that wants to find its own solutions all stand in the way.
To be honest, I find God's disinclination to clearly state His specific solutions (as they apply to me and my situations) to be more than a little annoying. Although I can't agree with the "antisupernaturalist Christians" who claim God's direct revelations ended with the New Testament and that everyone (however dedicated a believer) who believes God has said something specific to her (however brief and simple) must be imagining things, I can sympathize with the frustration that probably drives some people to this conclusion. Some Christians seem to receive a word of encouragement or guidance from God at every quiet time; myself, no matter how much I pray, I never even seem to get a wordless sense of His Presence. Not even anything that gives me some idea whether I'm right to worry that my cluttered mind or some unconfessed sin is causing the problem.
When one gets to this point, there's only one thing to do. Follow God's advice in Psalm 46:10 to "be still"--which, translated literally, means something like "let go." Let go of your frustrations, let go of the "musts" and "shoulds" that torture your mind, let go of your plans and fears for the future.
Above all, let go of your attempts to figure out how God "should" work. Just relax and let Him do it.
Have you grown weary with earth and its ways?
Do you find scarcely a reason for praise?
Lift up your heart to the Lord of all joy;
That which He gives, no despair can destroy.
Have you grown weary of life’s endless tasks?
Does it seem nothing you do ever lasts?
Offer your hands to the cause of the Lord;
Only His work brings enduring reward.
Have you grown weary of playing life’s game?
Does every day seem just more of the same?
Call on the Lord; ask to see with His view;
Each day with Him is exciting and new.
Have you grown weary with life as a whole?
Do you just crave lasting rest for your soul?
Patience, have patience; in time, God will bring
Life that endures, where He rules as the King.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Seventh Day
This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Houston was blessed with perfect fall weather: virtually cloudless, clear blue sky every day, combined with just-above-chilly temperatures and the near absence of detectable humidity. Especially after the recent heat wave, it would have been almost sinful to spend any of those days indoors.
So I started the weekend a day early. And I don't feel a bit guilty about it.
One advantage of being self-employed is not having any real ethical dilemma in the occasional spontaneous day off. But a surprising number of people feel guilty about taking even officially alloted vacation time. The typical "workaholic" is convinced that his or her career, if not the entire company's financial well-being, depends on being constantly on call to prevent catastrophe--and is blind to the impending personal catastrophes of relationship and health failure. Small wonder that more enlightened employers sometimes reach the point of literally ordering staff members to take time off.
The example was set by the wisest Employer of all. When God included "take every seventh day off" among the Ten Commandments, He knew that regular breaks were vital not only to our physical health but to our spiritual health as well. And an important aspect of spiritual health is remembering Who our real Boss is. Read carefully the above description of a workaholic, and you'll notice that the primary characteristic of such a mindset is an "everything depends on me" attitude.
So one reason for periodically stopping our work is to let God remind us, "No, you need to leave everything to Me."
One day for light, one for the sky, and one for all that grew,
And one for sun and moon and stars, back when the world was new;
One day for birds and water beasts, and one for beasts of land
And human life: and then one day for rest, at God’s command.
God gives His blessing to our work; but on one day in seven
He gives a time of holy rest for those who look to Heaven;
To those who follow in His ways, to those who seek His mind,
He says, “Withdraw from work today, the best My will to find.”
The seventh day, the day of rest, He blessed before the Fall;
And to His people long ago, He gave command that all
Would set apart that time again, all work to put away
To worship Him without distraction, on the seventh day.
God gives the time we need for work, but also time to rest
While we walk through this fractured world as those His love has blessed;
But work and rest will soon be one, when time will pass away,
And Seven Spirits guard the Throne, in God’s Eternal Day!
So I started the weekend a day early. And I don't feel a bit guilty about it.
One advantage of being self-employed is not having any real ethical dilemma in the occasional spontaneous day off. But a surprising number of people feel guilty about taking even officially alloted vacation time. The typical "workaholic" is convinced that his or her career, if not the entire company's financial well-being, depends on being constantly on call to prevent catastrophe--and is blind to the impending personal catastrophes of relationship and health failure. Small wonder that more enlightened employers sometimes reach the point of literally ordering staff members to take time off.
The example was set by the wisest Employer of all. When God included "take every seventh day off" among the Ten Commandments, He knew that regular breaks were vital not only to our physical health but to our spiritual health as well. And an important aspect of spiritual health is remembering Who our real Boss is. Read carefully the above description of a workaholic, and you'll notice that the primary characteristic of such a mindset is an "everything depends on me" attitude.
So one reason for periodically stopping our work is to let God remind us, "No, you need to leave everything to Me."
One day for light, one for the sky, and one for all that grew,
And one for sun and moon and stars, back when the world was new;
One day for birds and water beasts, and one for beasts of land
And human life: and then one day for rest, at God’s command.
God gives His blessing to our work; but on one day in seven
He gives a time of holy rest for those who look to Heaven;
To those who follow in His ways, to those who seek His mind,
He says, “Withdraw from work today, the best My will to find.”
The seventh day, the day of rest, He blessed before the Fall;
And to His people long ago, He gave command that all
Would set apart that time again, all work to put away
To worship Him without distraction, on the seventh day.
God gives the time we need for work, but also time to rest
While we walk through this fractured world as those His love has blessed;
But work and rest will soon be one, when time will pass away,
And Seven Spirits guard the Throne, in God’s Eternal Day!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Come Aside
I recently started a program of regular fasting--not from food but from an aspect of life where I have an even worse "can't stand to do without it" idolatry problem. Sunday mornings and every fourth Friday are now times for fasting from information input: no reading except the Bible, no computer time, no telephone, no forms of media except Christian music. I have some maturing to do before I can look forward to these "fast periods" with joy; often, the evening immediately preceding is marked by a pervasive dread of being bored to death.
Most of us are effectively terrified of stillness and silence. When we cram our brains with outside input in the manner of soldiers throwing up a defense barricade, when we attack our daily duties with all-out fight-or-flight adrenalin, is it all due to fear of falling behind or seeming lazy? Or are we, somewhere on the semiconscious level, afraid that God's "still small Voice" will get through and tell us to go the last place we want to go, to do the last thing we want to do, to give up forever something we doubt we could live without? Many a person shrinks from medical exams as though they somehow caused life-threatening illness; the spiritual equivalent is convincing ourselves that ignoring God will save us from both the pain of following His instructions and the sin of defying Him outright. But just as a treatable medical condition may grow into a lethal one while someone continues to pretend it can't be there, "protecting" ourselves from God's input will only free our spiritual problems to grow steadily worse.
Better to take periodic, even indefinite, breaks from earthly loves on our own volition, than to let them grow to the point where they endanger our very souls. It's not a pleasant experience when God forcibly rips something away for our own good.
The world is a rush of flash and noise,
From traffic to buzzing phone,
And everyone clamoring for your ear,
And high shortage of time alone.
If you want to rest from the endless din,
And listen to God's soft Voice,
You must come aside through your own free will,
Your own effort and your own choice.
The mind quickly fills with flash and noise,
And hummings of idle thought,
And worries and fears and the daily rush,
And the duties that life has brought.
If you want to shut out the endless din,
And hear when God speaks to you,
You must still your thoughts through your own free will,
And trust Him to direct you true.
The mad din of the world is bad enough,
But when it invades the brain
Through its endless siege, then the din within
Is still louder in its refrain.
And it is hard work to find time for rest:
But if you would do God's will,
You must trust that He will give you His strength
So your soul may at last be still!
Most of us are effectively terrified of stillness and silence. When we cram our brains with outside input in the manner of soldiers throwing up a defense barricade, when we attack our daily duties with all-out fight-or-flight adrenalin, is it all due to fear of falling behind or seeming lazy? Or are we, somewhere on the semiconscious level, afraid that God's "still small Voice" will get through and tell us to go the last place we want to go, to do the last thing we want to do, to give up forever something we doubt we could live without? Many a person shrinks from medical exams as though they somehow caused life-threatening illness; the spiritual equivalent is convincing ourselves that ignoring God will save us from both the pain of following His instructions and the sin of defying Him outright. But just as a treatable medical condition may grow into a lethal one while someone continues to pretend it can't be there, "protecting" ourselves from God's input will only free our spiritual problems to grow steadily worse.
Better to take periodic, even indefinite, breaks from earthly loves on our own volition, than to let them grow to the point where they endanger our very souls. It's not a pleasant experience when God forcibly rips something away for our own good.
The world is a rush of flash and noise,
From traffic to buzzing phone,
And everyone clamoring for your ear,
And high shortage of time alone.
If you want to rest from the endless din,
And listen to God's soft Voice,
You must come aside through your own free will,
Your own effort and your own choice.
The mind quickly fills with flash and noise,
And hummings of idle thought,
And worries and fears and the daily rush,
And the duties that life has brought.
If you want to shut out the endless din,
And hear when God speaks to you,
You must still your thoughts through your own free will,
And trust Him to direct you true.
The mad din of the world is bad enough,
But when it invades the brain
Through its endless siege, then the din within
Is still louder in its refrain.
And it is hard work to find time for rest:
But if you would do God's will,
You must trust that He will give you His strength
So your soul may at last be still!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sabbath
More than a week after returning from vacation (see last entry), I still haven't gotten completely back into the flow of regular work (if the way I approach self-employment can be said to be all that regular). Probably having four doctors' appointments last week (and one more to get through this Thursday) contributed to that. Even more significant, perhaps, is the onus of the mere phrase "work days." By all rights I should love my work: after all, I am a professional writer and the written word has been my great passion at least since I learned to read--which was at a far younger age than average, earlier than my conscious memory can reach. And my work offers flexible hours, a variety of projects and events, and the opportunity for learning--all of which I thrive on.
But I don't thrive on stress. And self-employment also brings the fear of failure, the agony of hoping the budget will stretch until the latest slow-paying client comes through, and the uncertainty of constantly looking for new work.
I shouldn't complain too much, though. There are plenty of people whose work is nothing but stress--who have never truly enjoyed a work day in their lives, who hate every aspect of their jobs. Some have ample reason to: their daily commutes take an hour each way through poky, honking, pollution-spewing traffic; their supervisors are bullies and their coworkers are schemers; and they are in the wrong professional fields altogether, having taken work totally contrary to their natural talents and interests simply because it was available or paid well. Many job-haters would be better off elsewhere, but human nature prefers being miserable in familiar surroundings to staking everything on a plunge into the unknown. So people grouse about their work all week and live only to escape into weekends and vacations.
Such "escape" thinking is one reason many of us don't really find our "days of rest" very restful--at least not to the point where we wake up the next day refreshed and eager to get back to work. "I wish I could make this last forever and never have to go back to my stupid job" probably wasn't exactly the attitude God wanted to cultivate in His people by giving them every seventh day off (Ex. 20:8-11). The Sabbath was meant to keep us from wearing ourselves out with constant motion, yes; but it was also intended as a time of reduced distractions so we could have the opportunity of getting to know God better. And that includes coming to understand the individual purposes and work He has planned for each of us. (See Eph. 2:10.)
It's hard to enjoy rest to the fullest if we refuse to enjoy the "rest" of life at all.
God gave six days a week for work, and one in which to rest;
And He gave equal hours to each, but only one was blessed--
That seventh day He set aside to cut life's throbbing swell:
So work for Jesus, certainly; but rest for Him as well.
God gave the seventh day for rest, for worship, and for play
(Be careful not to work at fun, or that could spoil the day)--
True rest to soothe the heart and mind, to stop and feed the soul:
But, work or rest, do all for God; and trust Him with the whole.
But I don't thrive on stress. And self-employment also brings the fear of failure, the agony of hoping the budget will stretch until the latest slow-paying client comes through, and the uncertainty of constantly looking for new work.
I shouldn't complain too much, though. There are plenty of people whose work is nothing but stress--who have never truly enjoyed a work day in their lives, who hate every aspect of their jobs. Some have ample reason to: their daily commutes take an hour each way through poky, honking, pollution-spewing traffic; their supervisors are bullies and their coworkers are schemers; and they are in the wrong professional fields altogether, having taken work totally contrary to their natural talents and interests simply because it was available or paid well. Many job-haters would be better off elsewhere, but human nature prefers being miserable in familiar surroundings to staking everything on a plunge into the unknown. So people grouse about their work all week and live only to escape into weekends and vacations.
Such "escape" thinking is one reason many of us don't really find our "days of rest" very restful--at least not to the point where we wake up the next day refreshed and eager to get back to work. "I wish I could make this last forever and never have to go back to my stupid job" probably wasn't exactly the attitude God wanted to cultivate in His people by giving them every seventh day off (Ex. 20:8-11). The Sabbath was meant to keep us from wearing ourselves out with constant motion, yes; but it was also intended as a time of reduced distractions so we could have the opportunity of getting to know God better. And that includes coming to understand the individual purposes and work He has planned for each of us. (See Eph. 2:10.)
It's hard to enjoy rest to the fullest if we refuse to enjoy the "rest" of life at all.
God gave six days a week for work, and one in which to rest;
And He gave equal hours to each, but only one was blessed--
That seventh day He set aside to cut life's throbbing swell:
So work for Jesus, certainly; but rest for Him as well.
God gave the seventh day for rest, for worship, and for play
(Be careful not to work at fun, or that could spoil the day)--
True rest to soothe the heart and mind, to stop and feed the soul:
But, work or rest, do all for God; and trust Him with the whole.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Step Aside a Little While
Finally, the hectic schedule I've been on since May is showing signs of slowing. At least for a few weeks. I don't hold any delusions that I'll be able to move permanently into a twenty-hours-a-week, eight-months-a-year work schedule any time soon--nor would it be wise to seriously hope for that, considering the Biblical injunctions against laziness and the fact that when I was in elementary school, it took somewhere around ten weeks to get totally bored with summer vacation.
Nonetheless, we all need our time off. Even those who love their careers to the point of bounding eagerly out of bed on Monday mornings have times when they want to forget they ever heard of work. Four seventy-hour weeks in a row, fifteen clients simultaneously deciding they need rush jobs on eighteen hours' notice, or ten straight work days where Murphy's Law seems to have become a coworker could burn anyone out. As often as not, it's not the actual work that causes the stress so much as the constant reminders of everything else that has to be done after the work of the moment is finished. If you're anything like me, those reminders don't need the physical interruptions of an incoming e-mail or ringing phone; your multi-tasking brain comes with a special "don't forget this or that" beeper that goes off every five minutes. It's not enough to avoid worrying about tomorrow (cf. Mt. 6:34); things quickly get to the point where one's sanity is tested by thinking half an hour ahead!
One reason many of us have so much trouble relaxing on our time "off" is that we let this high-tension mentality permeate our brains to the point we never really leave our work behind. I don't mean just that we physically carry work with us everywhere, or urge the office to call us for every loosely defined emergency; the worst part is the "baggage" we carry in our minds. We think constantly about what we'll do next week back at the office; we worry about the work that's piling up in our absence; we turn every casual conversation into a discussion of our career plans. Or we just transfer the most stressful of our work habits to our leisure time: we try to squeeze in all the activities we can, we feel guilty about relaxing, and we fume and fuss when things go wrong. Patricia Fry's article, "Your Vacation for Body, Mind, and Spirit," offers an interesting take on how our minds often stay in high gear even during vacation--and on what to do about it.
The best approach, of course, is the Biblical one of focusing our full attention on God. Most commentators agree that the Mosaic commands to take days, weeks, and years off from work (e.g., Ex. 20:8-11; 23:14-16; Lev. 25:1-7), while they certainly included the concepts of straight rest and of play, had a strong "spend more time getting to know your God" element. The Hebrew phrase translated "be still" in Ps. 46:10, which is paired with that idea of knowing God, carries the sense of total relaxation, even surrender--the implication being that we must stop struggling with worldly cares before we can fully savor God for everything He is.
God does command time off partly because He cares about our physical and emotional health. But even more than that, He wants to give us a lasting closeness to Himself that can only be nurtured through regular time away from everyday bustle.
In this world of rush and noise,
Filled with glittering, gaudy toys,
Where the strivings never cease,
How can anyone know peace?
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
Turn to Him a willing ear:
Listen now His voice to hear.
In this world where deadlines loom,
Crowding out each second's room,
"Hurry, hurry" is the rule;
All this rush can be so cruel.
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
He commanded Sabbath rest,
He Who knows which path is best.
In this world of endless strain,
Driven by the lust for gain,
And the siren song of greed,
What is it we really need?
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
Let your worries on Him fall:
He will be your All in All.
Nonetheless, we all need our time off. Even those who love their careers to the point of bounding eagerly out of bed on Monday mornings have times when they want to forget they ever heard of work. Four seventy-hour weeks in a row, fifteen clients simultaneously deciding they need rush jobs on eighteen hours' notice, or ten straight work days where Murphy's Law seems to have become a coworker could burn anyone out. As often as not, it's not the actual work that causes the stress so much as the constant reminders of everything else that has to be done after the work of the moment is finished. If you're anything like me, those reminders don't need the physical interruptions of an incoming e-mail or ringing phone; your multi-tasking brain comes with a special "don't forget this or that" beeper that goes off every five minutes. It's not enough to avoid worrying about tomorrow (cf. Mt. 6:34); things quickly get to the point where one's sanity is tested by thinking half an hour ahead!
One reason many of us have so much trouble relaxing on our time "off" is that we let this high-tension mentality permeate our brains to the point we never really leave our work behind. I don't mean just that we physically carry work with us everywhere, or urge the office to call us for every loosely defined emergency; the worst part is the "baggage" we carry in our minds. We think constantly about what we'll do next week back at the office; we worry about the work that's piling up in our absence; we turn every casual conversation into a discussion of our career plans. Or we just transfer the most stressful of our work habits to our leisure time: we try to squeeze in all the activities we can, we feel guilty about relaxing, and we fume and fuss when things go wrong. Patricia Fry's article, "Your Vacation for Body, Mind, and Spirit," offers an interesting take on how our minds often stay in high gear even during vacation--and on what to do about it.
The best approach, of course, is the Biblical one of focusing our full attention on God. Most commentators agree that the Mosaic commands to take days, weeks, and years off from work (e.g., Ex. 20:8-11; 23:14-16; Lev. 25:1-7), while they certainly included the concepts of straight rest and of play, had a strong "spend more time getting to know your God" element. The Hebrew phrase translated "be still" in Ps. 46:10, which is paired with that idea of knowing God, carries the sense of total relaxation, even surrender--the implication being that we must stop struggling with worldly cares before we can fully savor God for everything He is.
God does command time off partly because He cares about our physical and emotional health. But even more than that, He wants to give us a lasting closeness to Himself that can only be nurtured through regular time away from everyday bustle.
In this world of rush and noise,
Filled with glittering, gaudy toys,
Where the strivings never cease,
How can anyone know peace?
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
Turn to Him a willing ear:
Listen now His voice to hear.
In this world where deadlines loom,
Crowding out each second's room,
"Hurry, hurry" is the rule;
All this rush can be so cruel.
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
He commanded Sabbath rest,
He Who knows which path is best.
In this world of endless strain,
Driven by the lust for gain,
And the siren song of greed,
What is it we really need?
Step aside a little while,
Pause to seek the Father's smile;
Let your worries on Him fall:
He will be your All in All.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Day of Perfect Rest
As those of you who read last week's blog may have gathered, May was an extremely stressful month for me. Not all the stress was from negative happenings--a good bit came from an overdose of new work assignments and possibilities--but even "good stress" takes its toll on the mind and body. Yet many people seem convinced that stress is 100 percent beneficial. Tell professional contacts you've been really busy, and they respond, "That's great!" without even asking what exactly you're doing or whether it's been hard on you. Tell the average hardworking U. S. citizen you might seriously consider a full month's vacation (which is still considered normal in parts of Europe), and you get a disbelieving "how can anyone be so lazy?" look. A Google search for the phrase "rest is a four-letter word" turned up more than 250 results. Most of them decrying the attitude, as do quite a few voices in the wilderness these days, but they seem to have little overall effect on the idea that working ourselves to death is a virtue.
To be fair, the Bible commands periodic rest and condemns laziness. Human judgment is as flawed here as anywhere else, so left to ourselves we quickly slide to one extreme or the other. Even carefully measuring the ideal balance between work and rest, and setting our schedules accordingly, doesn't always help: we play with Web surfing and idle chatter during our "work" time; we allow striving and fretting to interfere with our "leisure" time; and we grumble when "worship" time doesn't begin and end precisely on schedule. Even if such fleshly attitudes are under control, the world and the devil can still invade our rest time with interruptions and unpleasant circumstances. We may wonder why God doesn't always reward our best intentions by protecting us from such things.
While there's no easy answer to that question, we have to remember that the perfect life, where work and rest are always in balance, will come only after we leave this world--and that getting too close to peace and happiness here is often the first step toward spiritual backsliding. The more any earthly thing seems to satisfy all our needs, the greater is the danger of turning that thing into an emotional idol.
Our restless moments here can actually be God's most effective tools for keeping our eyes looking toward the world to come.
We have in this lifetime our trials and troubles,
We have in this lifetime temptation and test,
We have in this lifetime our strivings and struggles,
Till the day of perfect rest.
The Lord gave us nighttime for sleeping and slumber,
And each week the Sabbath, the day that He blessed;
But even in such can come cares in large number,
Till the day of perfect rest.
Among all the weight of a lifetime's distractions,
Among all the hard times that on us can press,
The best that we have is faint hints and small fractions
Of the day of perfect rest.
Oh, heart! cease your strivings and look to your Master,
The One Who has promised relief in distress:
Your true, perfect freedom draws near ever faster,
In the day of perfect rest.
Oh, Lord! for Your day of revealing we're yearning,
That day when You finally will bring all Your best,
Where peace will be endless and pain unreturning:
Come, and bring Your perfect rest!
To be fair, the Bible commands periodic rest and condemns laziness. Human judgment is as flawed here as anywhere else, so left to ourselves we quickly slide to one extreme or the other. Even carefully measuring the ideal balance between work and rest, and setting our schedules accordingly, doesn't always help: we play with Web surfing and idle chatter during our "work" time; we allow striving and fretting to interfere with our "leisure" time; and we grumble when "worship" time doesn't begin and end precisely on schedule. Even if such fleshly attitudes are under control, the world and the devil can still invade our rest time with interruptions and unpleasant circumstances. We may wonder why God doesn't always reward our best intentions by protecting us from such things.
While there's no easy answer to that question, we have to remember that the perfect life, where work and rest are always in balance, will come only after we leave this world--and that getting too close to peace and happiness here is often the first step toward spiritual backsliding. The more any earthly thing seems to satisfy all our needs, the greater is the danger of turning that thing into an emotional idol.
Our restless moments here can actually be God's most effective tools for keeping our eyes looking toward the world to come.
We have in this lifetime our trials and troubles,
We have in this lifetime temptation and test,
We have in this lifetime our strivings and struggles,
Till the day of perfect rest.
The Lord gave us nighttime for sleeping and slumber,
And each week the Sabbath, the day that He blessed;
But even in such can come cares in large number,
Till the day of perfect rest.
Among all the weight of a lifetime's distractions,
Among all the hard times that on us can press,
The best that we have is faint hints and small fractions
Of the day of perfect rest.
Oh, heart! cease your strivings and look to your Master,
The One Who has promised relief in distress:
Your true, perfect freedom draws near ever faster,
In the day of perfect rest.
Oh, Lord! for Your day of revealing we're yearning,
That day when You finally will bring all Your best,
Where peace will be endless and pain unreturning:
Come, and bring Your perfect rest!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
True Rest for Souls
The past November-to-February has treated Houston to some of the most erratic and frequent temperature changes I can remember; we've hardly had four straight days within that time period which were all within ten Fahrenheit degrees of each other. Small wonder, with our bodies exposed to such constant adjustments and readjustments, that there seem to be more viruses than usual going around. I'm fighting a less-than-triumphant battle right now against my third illness of the season--or maybe, considering how long it seems to be dragging on, this is a fourth virus that came on the tail of the third.
Illness is a curse to the "mature" adult. When we were children, being sick had certain compensations: we didn't have to go to school; we didn't have to do chores; we got constant pampering; and even after we felt better, we frequently had an extra day off to make sure we were completely recovered. Not so after we're grown up; once we have "real" jobs, the principle changes from "Better safe than sorry" to "If you're strong enough to get out of bed, you're strong enough to do a full day's work." Well, what seems logical in theory doesn't always pan out in practice, as I found out last week when I literally collapsed (luckily into bed and not to the floor) after forcing my coughing, fatigued, nauseated body through a day of business-as-usual. After that, I gave up the fight and spent most (most) of the next few days resting.
General acceptance of working when sick is probably just one more manifestation of American workaholism. Taking an extra day off is considered lazy and shameful; sneaking a nap at lunch hour is looked on with extreme suspicion. Never mind that six-week vacations are the norm in many countries with high GNPs and that scientific research has found that people who rest frequently actually accomplish more; our society sees value only in constant movement. Someone even wrote a book called When I Relax I Feel Guilty.
I suspect, though, that what really kills most workaholics isn't the busyness of their bodies so much as the busyness of their minds and emotions--not their work loads per se so much as the tendency to be constantly thinking about everything that still needs to be done. I've been there--to a large extent I'm still there. Have you ever started a day with your body too weak to rise from bed but your mind screaming like an insane drill sergeant, "You must get up and work--you must finish the To Do list you've already made--you made commitments--you need money!"? It's not something I'd wish on anyone.
Forcing the body to rest is relatively easy compared to trying to force the mind to rest. No doubt the latter constituted a good bit of what Jesus had in mind when He said, "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" (Mt. 11:28-30, NIV, emphasis added).
How often do we say, "I'd give anything for a little peace of mind"? Usually the one thing we need to give is the one thing we're refusing to give; we think the answer is getting our lives under control, when in fact we need to hand control over to the One Whose wisdom is as far above ours as the heavens above the earth (cf. Is. 55:8-9).
Once we get in tune with His mind, it becomes easier to figure out when we need to work and when we need to rest.
True rest for souls is never found
In merely stopping to sit down,
Nor skipping work, nor time away
In a vacation for the day,
Nor even in a week or two
To take a trip and thus renew.
No, to achieve the purest rest
That strengthens us to meet each test
And fortifies for life's hard blows--
The only soul that truly knows
A peace within for every day,
Is that which ever seeks God's way.
True peace of mind, which stands its ground
While storms of stress are beating down,
Is fortified through Scripture, prayer,
And through the faith that God is there.
There is no peace in thing or place,
But only in eternal Grace.
Come to the Lord; receive His rest,
Admit His way is always best,
And trade your "should"s which never cease
For His light load of joy and peace:
And He will give His rest to you;
And His own strength will fill you through.
Illness is a curse to the "mature" adult. When we were children, being sick had certain compensations: we didn't have to go to school; we didn't have to do chores; we got constant pampering; and even after we felt better, we frequently had an extra day off to make sure we were completely recovered. Not so after we're grown up; once we have "real" jobs, the principle changes from "Better safe than sorry" to "If you're strong enough to get out of bed, you're strong enough to do a full day's work." Well, what seems logical in theory doesn't always pan out in practice, as I found out last week when I literally collapsed (luckily into bed and not to the floor) after forcing my coughing, fatigued, nauseated body through a day of business-as-usual. After that, I gave up the fight and spent most (most) of the next few days resting.
General acceptance of working when sick is probably just one more manifestation of American workaholism. Taking an extra day off is considered lazy and shameful; sneaking a nap at lunch hour is looked on with extreme suspicion. Never mind that six-week vacations are the norm in many countries with high GNPs and that scientific research has found that people who rest frequently actually accomplish more; our society sees value only in constant movement. Someone even wrote a book called When I Relax I Feel Guilty.
I suspect, though, that what really kills most workaholics isn't the busyness of their bodies so much as the busyness of their minds and emotions--not their work loads per se so much as the tendency to be constantly thinking about everything that still needs to be done. I've been there--to a large extent I'm still there. Have you ever started a day with your body too weak to rise from bed but your mind screaming like an insane drill sergeant, "You must get up and work--you must finish the To Do list you've already made--you made commitments--you need money!"? It's not something I'd wish on anyone.
Forcing the body to rest is relatively easy compared to trying to force the mind to rest. No doubt the latter constituted a good bit of what Jesus had in mind when He said, "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" (Mt. 11:28-30, NIV, emphasis added).
How often do we say, "I'd give anything for a little peace of mind"? Usually the one thing we need to give is the one thing we're refusing to give; we think the answer is getting our lives under control, when in fact we need to hand control over to the One Whose wisdom is as far above ours as the heavens above the earth (cf. Is. 55:8-9).
Once we get in tune with His mind, it becomes easier to figure out when we need to work and when we need to rest.
True rest for souls is never found
In merely stopping to sit down,
Nor skipping work, nor time away
In a vacation for the day,
Nor even in a week or two
To take a trip and thus renew.
No, to achieve the purest rest
That strengthens us to meet each test
And fortifies for life's hard blows--
The only soul that truly knows
A peace within for every day,
Is that which ever seeks God's way.
True peace of mind, which stands its ground
While storms of stress are beating down,
Is fortified through Scripture, prayer,
And through the faith that God is there.
There is no peace in thing or place,
But only in eternal Grace.
Come to the Lord; receive His rest,
Admit His way is always best,
And trade your "should"s which never cease
For His light load of joy and peace:
And He will give His rest to you;
And His own strength will fill you through.
Friday, December 5, 2008
"Thy Kingdom Come"
Anyone who has ever read the Gospels is familiar with the phrases "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" (one or the other of the two expressions occurs nearly 100 times in the NIV New Testament). And your church may well be one of the many that each week pray "Thy Kingdom come" as they recite the Lord's Prayer. Yet how many of us, living in today's free and prosperous societies, are really as eager to see the coming of the Kingdom as were the early believers? Is our honest reaction to the idea of Christ's return "the sooner the better," or do we secretly hope He waits at least a decade or two so we won't be kept from enjoying the dream trips or perfect retirements we're saving for? Do we really look forward to seeing all evil and pain permanently driven out, or do we harbor misgivings that a perfect world might be a little boring, devoid of drama and excitement?
In this current world (not to mention in any great work of fiction), success and satisfaction depends so heavily on winning against powerful odds that, notwithstanding the pleasure we take in a day to relax or a "happily ever after" ending, many of us find it hard to imagine permanent rest as an altogether good thing. Someone has even written an allegory where the hero goes after death to a place where every wish is instantly granted--and eventually comes to realize that he is not in Heaven but in hell. No, most of us don't really want to spend forever lying on a couch eating bonbons, or "sitting on a cloud strumming a harp."
But is that really all there is to Heaven? After all, there was work--presumably including some hard work--in the world before the Fall (Gen. 2:15). Nor does the thrill of competition and challenge require real enemies as opponents: ask any child who has had a wonderful day playing outdoors with friends. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the children and the childlike (e. g., Luke 18:16); wouldn't the experience of Heaven, then, be like a child's concept of the perfect day--full of freedom to play hard, to laugh with pure delight, to enjoy the company of friends and to make all the noise and expend all the energy one pleases? The eternal, dour church service many people imagine as Heaven--which seems superior to hell only in being the lesser of two evils--could hardly be more different.
We don't yet know many specific details about Heaven. But we can be certain that those who go there will never compare it unfavorably with the present life.
There are kingdoms of wealth
And kingdoms of power
And kingdoms where pleasure reigns,
But only the Kingdom
Beyond this world
Is free from the sin that stains.
Each of us would rule
As a king or queen
And would build our own throne of pride,
But the greatest Kingdom
Has but one King,
And we must be servants inside.
There are kingdoms of greed
Where deluded souls
Would see God grant their every whim;
There are "pinnacle kingdoms"
All built on show
And in going out on a limb;
There are kingdoms galore
Where for earthly gain
People bow to the devil's ways;
But let me fix my eyes
On the Kingdom of God,
Who alone is worthy of praise.
In this current world (not to mention in any great work of fiction), success and satisfaction depends so heavily on winning against powerful odds that, notwithstanding the pleasure we take in a day to relax or a "happily ever after" ending, many of us find it hard to imagine permanent rest as an altogether good thing. Someone has even written an allegory where the hero goes after death to a place where every wish is instantly granted--and eventually comes to realize that he is not in Heaven but in hell. No, most of us don't really want to spend forever lying on a couch eating bonbons, or "sitting on a cloud strumming a harp."
But is that really all there is to Heaven? After all, there was work--presumably including some hard work--in the world before the Fall (Gen. 2:15). Nor does the thrill of competition and challenge require real enemies as opponents: ask any child who has had a wonderful day playing outdoors with friends. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the children and the childlike (e. g., Luke 18:16); wouldn't the experience of Heaven, then, be like a child's concept of the perfect day--full of freedom to play hard, to laugh with pure delight, to enjoy the company of friends and to make all the noise and expend all the energy one pleases? The eternal, dour church service many people imagine as Heaven--which seems superior to hell only in being the lesser of two evils--could hardly be more different.
We don't yet know many specific details about Heaven. But we can be certain that those who go there will never compare it unfavorably with the present life.
There are kingdoms of wealth
And kingdoms of power
And kingdoms where pleasure reigns,
But only the Kingdom
Beyond this world
Is free from the sin that stains.
Each of us would rule
As a king or queen
And would build our own throne of pride,
But the greatest Kingdom
Has but one King,
And we must be servants inside.
There are kingdoms of greed
Where deluded souls
Would see God grant their every whim;
There are "pinnacle kingdoms"
All built on show
And in going out on a limb;
There are kingdoms galore
Where for earthly gain
People bow to the devil's ways;
But let me fix my eyes
On the Kingdom of God,
Who alone is worthy of praise.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Be Still
Amid the chaos of mid-December, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10, NIV) is a piece of Scripture most of us should pay regular attention to. But we also should remember that the emphasis is on the second half.
The whole Psalm makes it clear that the authors were in even more chaotic surroundings than a crowded shopping mall--and were well aware that only through God's power could they find security. Psalm 46 is not about learning relaxation techniques. It is about trusting God at all times, knowing that He is in control.
It is also about letting him be in control. There is no room in God's Kingdom for attitudes of "I trust You to give me inner peace, Lord--but I expect You to deliver it on my own external terms!" We cannot experience true peace until we stop fighting our own little wars for our imagined rights to dictate life's circumstances.
The NASB translates the opening words of Psalm 46:10 as "Stop striving." Stop striving to get on top of things. Stop striving to organize your life. Stop striving to bully the surrounding world into giving you what you want. Surrender all this to God, and He will get things under control for you. And will throw in "peace... which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7).
Even during the chaotic season.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Hear the Lord's voice;
Will you give Him your ear?
It is your choice:
Will you incline your thoughts
To hear Him speak,
Humble yourself and bow,
Make yourself meek?
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Let striving cease;
Only within His hand
Can we know peace;
Only by pausing now,
Even today,
Can we receive His Word
And know His way.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Cease from the rush;
Rest from life's frantic pace
For one hour's hush:
When you keep hurrying
As in a race,
Your dreams are crushed beneath
Life's frantic pace.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
God governs all;
Trust Him Who holds you up--
You will not fall:
God alone knows for sure
What you must do;
Be still, trust Him to lead;
He will be true.
The whole Psalm makes it clear that the authors were in even more chaotic surroundings than a crowded shopping mall--and were well aware that only through God's power could they find security. Psalm 46 is not about learning relaxation techniques. It is about trusting God at all times, knowing that He is in control.
It is also about letting him be in control. There is no room in God's Kingdom for attitudes of "I trust You to give me inner peace, Lord--but I expect You to deliver it on my own external terms!" We cannot experience true peace until we stop fighting our own little wars for our imagined rights to dictate life's circumstances.
The NASB translates the opening words of Psalm 46:10 as "Stop striving." Stop striving to get on top of things. Stop striving to organize your life. Stop striving to bully the surrounding world into giving you what you want. Surrender all this to God, and He will get things under control for you. And will throw in "peace... which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7).
Even during the chaotic season.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Hear the Lord's voice;
Will you give Him your ear?
It is your choice:
Will you incline your thoughts
To hear Him speak,
Humble yourself and bow,
Make yourself meek?
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Let striving cease;
Only within His hand
Can we know peace;
Only by pausing now,
Even today,
Can we receive His Word
And know His way.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
Cease from the rush;
Rest from life's frantic pace
For one hour's hush:
When you keep hurrying
As in a race,
Your dreams are crushed beneath
Life's frantic pace.
"Be still, and know I Am"--
God governs all;
Trust Him Who holds you up--
You will not fall:
God alone knows for sure
What you must do;
Be still, trust Him to lead;
He will be true.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Clock Watcher
I have a time management problem--I manage it too thoroughly! In the interest of "not letting a moment go to waste," I always scheduled, down to the last quarter hour, everything from travel time to pleasure reading ("at 100 pages an hour, I'll finish this novel by bedtime"). If I intended to log off my e-mail at 5:00, and an unexpected message kept me on until 5:01, I gave myself a mental spanking.
It seemed to work when I was younger. But then the world began speeding up while I slowed down, and the "this much time you may spend, not one second longer" labels started to turn even pleasure activities into chores to be gotten out of the way. Like Martha, I was so "worried and upset" about the "many things" that "had to" be done that I couldn't hear the Lord inviting me let the doing wait so I could take time for being--being with Him.
Change has not come easily. Even when my body is still, my mind tries to distract me with constant whispers of what I'm missing out on, telling me not to waste my time.... Praying is a waste of time? Even Christians often live as if it were. Sitting at God's feet feels so passive. We should be up accomplishing things. Isn't it up to us to save the world?
Actually, God already did that. When we think we "have to" do everything, that's our pride talking--and we know what goes before a fall (cf. Prov. 16:18). For those of us who never take our eyes off the clock, that fall frequently comes in the form of a collapse into depression, if not a complete breakdown. The only way to avoid that path is to keep our primary focus on God and avoid giving too much of our attention to anything else.
Especially the clock.
Every slot of my day is scheduled,
Every hour of my time is planned.
Work and play time alike are pedaled
To the beat of a schedule grand.
Every moment my brain runs forward;
Every tick of the hand of time,
As the hours of each week march onward,
Draws a glance from my conscious mind.
I've no mind to give full attention
To the task of the moment here,
Always drawn toward the next's rendition,
Ever nagged by a lingering fear
I will never do all I long to,
Never finish life's endless store:
And even the God I belong to
Gets "this prayer time, and nothing more!"
Lord, from You come the interruptions;
Lord, You only know every task
That was meant for my own life's functions,
Yet I rarely take time to ask.
I serve gods labeled Plan and Order,
Brutal tyrants who wield the whip
Should I step out of schedule's border,
Should one minute unnoted slip.
Lord, forgive me my pride so stubborn,
Ever yearning for life's controls.
Set me free from this crushing burden;
Save me from my own self-made goals.
Turn my heart to the Master's pathways:
Make me willing to set aside
Earthly glitter and lures attractive,
Taking You as my One True Guide!
It seemed to work when I was younger. But then the world began speeding up while I slowed down, and the "this much time you may spend, not one second longer" labels started to turn even pleasure activities into chores to be gotten out of the way. Like Martha, I was so "worried and upset" about the "many things" that "had to" be done that I couldn't hear the Lord inviting me let the doing wait so I could take time for being--being with Him.
Change has not come easily. Even when my body is still, my mind tries to distract me with constant whispers of what I'm missing out on, telling me not to waste my time.... Praying is a waste of time? Even Christians often live as if it were. Sitting at God's feet feels so passive. We should be up accomplishing things. Isn't it up to us to save the world?
Actually, God already did that. When we think we "have to" do everything, that's our pride talking--and we know what goes before a fall (cf. Prov. 16:18). For those of us who never take our eyes off the clock, that fall frequently comes in the form of a collapse into depression, if not a complete breakdown. The only way to avoid that path is to keep our primary focus on God and avoid giving too much of our attention to anything else.
Especially the clock.
Every slot of my day is scheduled,
Every hour of my time is planned.
Work and play time alike are pedaled
To the beat of a schedule grand.
Every moment my brain runs forward;
Every tick of the hand of time,
As the hours of each week march onward,
Draws a glance from my conscious mind.
I've no mind to give full attention
To the task of the moment here,
Always drawn toward the next's rendition,
Ever nagged by a lingering fear
I will never do all I long to,
Never finish life's endless store:
And even the God I belong to
Gets "this prayer time, and nothing more!"
Lord, from You come the interruptions;
Lord, You only know every task
That was meant for my own life's functions,
Yet I rarely take time to ask.
I serve gods labeled Plan and Order,
Brutal tyrants who wield the whip
Should I step out of schedule's border,
Should one minute unnoted slip.
Lord, forgive me my pride so stubborn,
Ever yearning for life's controls.
Set me free from this crushing burden;
Save me from my own self-made goals.
Turn my heart to the Master's pathways:
Make me willing to set aside
Earthly glitter and lures attractive,
Taking You as my One True Guide!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Rest
Yesterday--November 11--the United States observed Veterans' Day, honoring former members of the Armed Forces. November 11 is also Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I. People throughout history have celebrated the ends of wars; few have ever celebrated a war's beginning. While some soldiers enjoy battle for battle's sake, the vast majority--certainly those on the winning side--are happiest when the war is finally over.
The Christian life is a constant spiritual war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Everything we do, from our daily work to the thoughts we think, is a battle to overcome our own self-centeredness and mold us in the image of Christ. Even with the encouraging certainty of being on the winning side, sometimes we feel the overwhelming need to rest from the fighting. There's nothing lazy or sinful about this, unless our definition of "rest" is "take a break from God and be selfish for a while." Sometimes we are so afraid of this attitude--or of leaving something vital undone--that we stick to work as if we doubted God could run the universe for five minutes without our help.
If we instead stop to refresh ourselves spiritually, putting aside everyday doing and concentrating on getting to know God better, that kind of rest is not only permissible; it's commanded. God knows that, until the battle of life is over and we enter into the perfect rest where work and worship are the same, we need regular short rests to stay effective. Besides being Veterans' Day and Armistice Day, yesterday was Sunday, the traditional "day of rest" for Christians. Did you take time to refresh yourself for the next battle?
As the Lord rested from His labor
On the seventh day of time,
He calls us to rest from our duties
For a day of worship sublime.
He gives us each day that we spend here:
Is it so very much to ask
That we give Him back one out of seven,
When we set aside every task?
As the Lord gave rest to His people
When they entered the Promised Land,
He offers us rest from our struggles
When we yield our wills to His hand.
However exhausting the journey,
Whatever the bumps in the road,
He gives us the strength for our marches
And He helps us to bear the load.
As the Lord sat down by His Father
When His work on this earth was done,
He welcomes us home to His Kingdom
When our earthly battles are won.
The rest that He gives is eternal,
The peace that He brings never dies:
Let us give all our days to His service
That we may find where true rest lies.
The Christian life is a constant spiritual war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Everything we do, from our daily work to the thoughts we think, is a battle to overcome our own self-centeredness and mold us in the image of Christ. Even with the encouraging certainty of being on the winning side, sometimes we feel the overwhelming need to rest from the fighting. There's nothing lazy or sinful about this, unless our definition of "rest" is "take a break from God and be selfish for a while." Sometimes we are so afraid of this attitude--or of leaving something vital undone--that we stick to work as if we doubted God could run the universe for five minutes without our help.
If we instead stop to refresh ourselves spiritually, putting aside everyday doing and concentrating on getting to know God better, that kind of rest is not only permissible; it's commanded. God knows that, until the battle of life is over and we enter into the perfect rest where work and worship are the same, we need regular short rests to stay effective. Besides being Veterans' Day and Armistice Day, yesterday was Sunday, the traditional "day of rest" for Christians. Did you take time to refresh yourself for the next battle?
As the Lord rested from His labor
On the seventh day of time,
He calls us to rest from our duties
For a day of worship sublime.
He gives us each day that we spend here:
Is it so very much to ask
That we give Him back one out of seven,
When we set aside every task?
As the Lord gave rest to His people
When they entered the Promised Land,
He offers us rest from our struggles
When we yield our wills to His hand.
However exhausting the journey,
Whatever the bumps in the road,
He gives us the strength for our marches
And He helps us to bear the load.
As the Lord sat down by His Father
When His work on this earth was done,
He welcomes us home to His Kingdom
When our earthly battles are won.
The rest that He gives is eternal,
The peace that He brings never dies:
Let us give all our days to His service
That we may find where true rest lies.
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