oh no, i got to keep on moving

i have a really hard time forcing myself to stop working, or at least, thinking about work. i am constantly wondering, "what could i be doing that would build?" this plague is both a curse and a blessing in my perspective.

it really becomes challenging at times to force myself into playing or reading books with my boys. those things are without a doubt some of the most important quality time activities i could be doing with my kids. and honestly, when i am outside the moment, i am thinking how much i should be doing more with my boys.

proverbs 12:24 says the diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work (msg). i would love to find the balance in all of this. the ability to turn off just enough to know that i am actually getting more done than if i kept on and wore myself out. this requires someone else. someone who is better than i am and someone who has more experience in life than i do.

that person is...

jesus

paul says in colossians, "everything got started in him and finds his purpose in him." this means that leaning on him isn't something i have to try, in order to find wholeness, it means, it is something i must do if i want my life to have peace.

when i am playing trains with my boys...peace
when i am reading books to them...peace
when i am praying with pastors and leaders...peace
when i am leading a congregation in worship...peace

there is no substitute and no replacement. jesus occupies the only place as the sustainer of creation without peers. if you, like me, struggle to find the off switch, rest in the unfailing peace of jesus. he too, is able to understand what it means to have a mind that is desiring success at every venture and the importance of every minute detail of our lives. the spirit will lead you into freedom and liberation in your work as you lean on him.

what i have found to help with a sense of peace is...

recognize the activity in your life that needs to be on the shelf. the things you need to say no to, at this particular time. i have heard it over and over and over, "just because it is good, doesn't mean it is god." learn to say no to things.

surround yourself with encouragement...not yes men. find people who know how to find productivity and success and can properly evaluate patterns to righteously correct or reprove your thinking. if proverbs, the book of wisdom, is to be taken seriously, we must then long for correction and counsel. this will prove to reveal discipline which is the key to growth.

most importantly, develop a pattern of breaking away from the noise (friends, internet, phones, etc) and finding your spot of deep and thought provoking intimacy with god. he is the most intimately acquainted entity of your life in existence. scripture is clear, there is not a place you can go that he is not there. jesus broke away from the crowds to be alone, rose early for prayer, he knew, and teaches us the value of actively separating our minds from the noise. in this time you will gain the secrets of god for your life; finding those very things to be at peace with in you working life (relationships, decisions, activities, etc).

at the heart, if we can be honest, the stress that accompanies work or the inability to turn off reveals the nature of our hearts. we want to be in control, if we want control than that is definitely a bad thing. the lord loves to reveal the areas of our hearts that will be most detrimental in our relationship with him. pride leads to idolatry and this will ruin.