From Busyness to Focus

Could anyone else use a rest?!? ...and if I wasn't the preacher and someone told me to find rest by focusing on God, I'd think they had lost their mind. How do we find rest by focusing on God? The more I focus on God the more it seems I'm required to do. Adding God to my schedule doesn't add rest, it adds issues.

So, how do we find rest when we're asked to wear so many hats, compounded by the pressure we feel to put them all on? How can I focus on all that is expected of me and still find rest? Scripture tells us the answer is found in our decision to establish our non-negotiables.

Matthew 6:24

No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.

Our lives are so busy... the hats we wear... the places we go, all we're involved in, everything we want to accomplish... that in the end, we're overwhelmed. We see God as just another voice in a chorus of voices telling us how we should fill our time. Leading us to see the disciplines of faith as just another list of requirements added to a sea of activities.

Michael Zigarelli stating that, "The accelerated pace and activity level of the modern day distracts us from God and separates us from the abundant joyful, victorious life He desires for us." He describes the problem as "a vicious cycle" driven by cultural conformity. Zigarelli says busyness may be a global pandemic. He suggests that Christians break the cycle by "reordering our thinking," including "the way we think about who God is and how He wants us to live our lives."

No one can be a slave of two masters

Scripture brings us back to the lie satan is trying to sell us, about our ability to have it all. So, we're face to face with the question, is God lying to us and we can serve two masters, we can live two lives; or is satan lying to us and No one can be a slave of two masters? How is all of this rest???

Rest is only viable when we focus on one goal. (master, Lord, purpose)

Jim Wilson states that, "the Christ-follower must move from a double minded lifestyle to a singular focus," and he defines focus as "a single-minded devotion to and enduring pursuit of God."

James 4:8

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people!

Do we have a singular focus, scripture is not talking about limiting life to one activity but to one goal or purpose through whatever activities we pursue?!? BUT WHY???

since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.

Do we resent God for getting in the way of our activities or

do we resent our activities for getting in the way of God?

How does mixed loyalties really affect our relationship with Christ?

Making Room for Worship

In the midst of some continual education studies with Nelson Searcy, he made a statement that froze me when he said it. "There is no room for worship on Sunday unless you empty yourself during the week."

People filled with worship, people experiencing overflowing amounts of worship, who are unwilling to empty themselves through service opportunities find themselves going to future worship celebrations not out of necessity but out of opportunity.  When you go to worship out of necessity you do not critique what you're experiencing because you just don't care what you're experiencing but who you're experiencing in that moment. Any moment acknowledging the presence of God is amazing when you're spiritually spent! Best illustrated by mission teams who sit on tree logs, outside in the heat, for hours not understanding a word that is said but you know God is in that place and it is refreshing and renewing to your faith. On the other hand, when we worship out of opportunity and we haven't spent ourselves spiritually, we walk into worship celebrations not needing the experience.  Therefore, less worried about meeting God and unfortunately available to think about music choices, sound issues, singers hitting notes, it's too cold or it's too hot, and the inevitable sermon that is too long! Spend servants make great worshippers!

Think about how you will be walking into worship this Sunday... in desperate need of more of God because of what you poured out and into others this week or satisfied and filled hoping everything's perfect! The first will bring you into the room looking for nothing but God. The second will bring you into the room looking at everything but God. Ask yourself, just as I'm going to ask myself... am I empty enough to worship today!?!