Simplifying life
We recently read this journal by Shannon Wexelberg…
Maybe because I’m getting older or maybe it’s because I’m often just too busy, but I’m feeling the need to simplify! Sometimes I imagine what it might be like to live like the “Little House on the Prairie” folks might have. Good ol’ Mary and Laura. The pace was slow -albeit TOO slow - but this sense of constant urgency didn’t really exist. “It would get done when it gets done…” and nobody was terribly uptight about it. A letter took a month to get there, the clothes were washed by hand, you couldn’t zip up to the store in your Honda and use your cell phone while you did so. Don’t get me wrong…I’m extremely thankful for modern day conveniences. I have a cell phone, a laptop, a washing machine, and love to e-mail! But I find myself in a frenzy at times, tending more to those things than to my soul. Recently I was introduced to, and have since become dear friends with, a woman named Linda Dillow. She is a best-selling author, a wife, a missionary, a speaker, a mother of four, and a grandmother of several. She wrote two books, in particular, which have impacted me greatly lately called “Calm My Anxious Heart” and “Satisfy My Thirsty Soul.” The Lord has taught her a great deal about “rest” and “satisfaction” in Him as our soul’s richest fare, in and through the circumstances of everyday life. David talks all about yearning and craving the Lord throughout the Psalms, but do we REALLY? I’ve had to ask myself that question again and again. The things we crave most are the things that we give our time to…so, are they my laptop? My ministry? My friends? My TV? Sports? Even, my family? All good things (well, except the TV, maybe), but not the BETTER thing - the ONE thing…the BEST thing, that we so often neglect. His love is better than life! I do believe that…and yet at times, I find myself anxious or depressed or uptight! And so, I’ve made it my prayer and desire to simplify…to simplify life to where the ONE thing that matters most in the world to me - which is my precious Lord - gets more of my time and attention. That’s always been my intent, but “life” has crept in so subtly the last few years and I’m nipping it in the bud! So, that means turning off the TV more, saying “no” to extra-curricular things that just “fill” my time, not buying an Oprah magazine when I fly on the plane, but spending time in His Word, becoming absorbed in worship as I stare out the window upon His glorious creation, maybe even saying “no” to some ministry events I might normally say “yes” to….ah, yes…just “being” with Him who is most precious to me every chance I get. They’re small choices, but they add up in T-I-M-E and TIME is a treasure we give Him. It’s the treasure that Mary gave Him while Martha scurried about in the kitchen, while Jesus sat in the other room with Mary at His feet. Linda and I ministered together at a women’s meeting called “Still Waters” the other night and she made such a good point when she said that she used to be a “worker who loved” rather than a “lover who worked.” She used to “do, do, do” for the Lord - tending to His people and His work (both wonderful things), but she neglected her Bridgegroom. Oh…how the Lord has been pulling me to Himself and I pray He does the same for you. May we never be satisfied with anything short of deep, intimate communion with the Lover of our very soul. I do believe that we will be more satisifed than we ever believed we could be, for He is life itself…
Tags: shannon-wexelberg
