What if……..
What if, you stopped comparing.
What if, you stopped cramming everything into your lack of time.
What if, you chose what’s best for you.
What if, you stopped living to please.
What if, you could breathe.
What if, you didn’t miss the good stuff.
What if….
You can fill in your own ‘what if’. These are the questions I ask myself regularly. I struggle with them all, and I’m working on them all. Because God is asking you to ponder….
What if, you walked with me.
What if, you spent time with me.
What if, you followed my commands.
What if, you put on my spiritual armor.
What if, you trusted me.
What if, you felt my presence.
What if, you knew you were deeply loved.
What if…..
These questions I feel God asking me have honestly put me in a panic a few weeks ago. Like you, I have a super duper busy schedule with a full time job in ministry, a speaking ministry, 3 kids at home busy in sports and other activities, a house, healthy eating, exercise (I wish), and a marriage to nurture. And it’s summer, and there’s no school, and that means there are camps and mission trips and expectations, and and and and and…
My breathing just got shallow again.
How am I supposed to live the way God wants me to live and created me to live amongst this crazy chaos? The only answer I’ve been able to come up with this summer is simply this: one day at a time. Soaking in God’s truth about me, so that when the expectations and comparisons and the lists that will never be completed begin to overwhelm me, I am working on choosing to strap on the armor of truth, which means I am reading it daily, and it has got to absolutely come before all the immediate, in my face neediness of my family, my job, and everything! BUT, but, but… they are really needy, and these things have to be accomplished. What if all this stuff doesn’t get done, and what will “they” think of me? Whew! We are exhausting girlfriends!
When will we figure out that by putting on God’s armor first, breathing in HIS truth, relying on HIS presence to fill us, trusting that we are who He says we are, we’ll then be at our very best and that we will live our best life. BUT, there is just so much going on around me, there are so many needs, there are so many hurts. Yes. There. Are. And how we handle them is by putting God first. That is not being selfish, it’s not being needy, and it’s not wasting time. It’s doing what God tells us to do. And God is truth. And God is life.
I don’t know girlfriends. Even as I’m writing this, I know that what I’m writing is Biblical, that it’s the right choice, but honestly I have a whole ‘nother list scrolling through my brain. A checklist, a to-do list, an ‘I have to accomplish’ list, an ‘all the ways I stink’ list.
What if…….we chose to input truth first.
What if ……every time our list scrolled, we also quoted scripture from memory.
What if……we let some of the things and pressures of this world go so that we can live a better life, a life that God wants for us? Not a perfect, ‘everything will be fabulous when we do our devotions, and pray and memorize verses’ life; but a more fulfilled life, where with all things in it, good and hard, we know He is right there beside us, loving us, forgiving us, giving us fresh days and fresh starts…
What if, that’s the kind of summer you chose to have?
Verses to arm your sweet self with this summer:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” Isaiah 30:21
“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
“What we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now; Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—“ Ephesians 2:8
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
“Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me” Psalm 119:133
