.png)
What started as a weekly email has very quickly become a (nearly) monthly email.
Why? Because life has gotten busy.
I will spare you the gory details, but as Christmastime has come, so have many opportunities to be involved in our local community that don't happen any other time of year. The onslaught of commitments and urgent needs has been thorough and swift. And, because of those temporary changes in schedule, I haven't found much time to sit at my desk, let alone write a post like this one.
Maybe you're at a place in your life where you're just lucky if you keep your head above water. You're being bombarded from multiple angles and, while it is overwhelming, you have no choice but to plunge forward and do whatever's next. There's no real plan because you don't have time to make a plan. There's no peace because peace will come after everything is done.
And then, the more and more you tackle, the more and more peace does not come.
As I spend more and more time "doing" this time of year and less and less time reflecting on God and spending time with him, I find myself increasingly tired, progressively discouraged, and constantly discontent. What my mind says will bring resolution, satisfaction, and success brings emptiness. In the never-ending cycle of firefighting in life, we prioritize the urgent, not necessarily what's most important, because we feel like we need to do so.
God is not like this. He is busy, but not hurried. He is active, but not stressed. He is working, but He isn't burnt out.
In His perfection, God provides for us what we cannot achieve on our own. Philippians 4:6-7 puts it this way: "Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (CSB)
Because of Christ, we can know what's truly important. Our focus can be in the right place. We can find peace.
Surely, everything has to get done at some point. We can't just let life's responsibilities go unattended, and that to-do list won't go away.
However, we don't have to worry about it like we used to anymore. We don't have to let it control us. Our success or failure in accomplishing that list does not determine our worth or value.
Our peace, our hope, our value is found in Jesus Christ. He is a God that does not miss anything, does not worry about anything, and does not get stressed. All the same, He is a God that cares for you fully and completely and, through your trial, He will be with you just as He's always been. Trust in him.