Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Learning to Rest in His Rhythm

I still feel like the Lord is asking me to back off from “doing” so many things and to start saying “no” to new requests. I haven’t pursued any new appointments lately and have been spending more time with Tom, with the Lord, and on other things I never had time for before.

This morning, I felt like the Lord confirmed what He’s been teaching me. Tom was reading from Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and one of the lies she addresses is, “I don’t have enough time to do everything I need to do.” Nancy reminds us that we still have the same amount of time we’ve always had—24 hours in a day and 7 days a week—and that there was once a time when people managed their days without being constantly stressed or burned out.

She also points to the life of Jesus, who accomplished the salvation of the world in just over 30 years! He was able to do this because He only did what His Father in heaven asked Him to do. If Jesus had tried to meet every request from the disciples, the religious leaders, and the crowds around Him, He would have been as drained as we sometimes feel. Satan loves to keep God’s people so busy that they can’t hear—or do—what He truly wants.

Lord, help me to live like Jesus did: focused, obedient, and at peace. I only want to do what my Father in heaven wants me to do. I pray against the spirit of busyness and against the guilt that creeps in when I don’t feel “productive.” Help me to stay centered on You and Your priorities in my life. Amen.

This week, the Lord gave us a neat little gift of provision. We weren’t planning to file our income taxes for last year since I hadn’t earned the minimum amount to file (I only worked part-time from home until February 6th). But we remembered that I had cashed out my 401k early last year, so we decided to go ahead and file—and it turns out we’ll be getting money back! Tom’s dad said it’s best to file regardless, so the IRS doesn’t get suspicious, which makes sense.

God is so faithful to provide in the most unexpected ways! This will allow us to take care of some car maintenance and catch up on a few needs that have been in “wait mode.” We may even have enough for Tom to attend the family reunion in California in May—but first, we’ll take care of the priorities.

C’s parents had given us some gift certificates for a seafood restaurant at Christmas, but there weren’t any local locations listed. One day I finally remembered to check online, and while doing that, I noticed the certificates expired 90 days after being issued (December 18th)! I did a quick calculation and realized they would expire in just three days—on March 15th!

So, I called A and C to see if they wanted to join us for a spontaneous dinner, and thankfully, they were available. We met at the Raleigh location and had such a nice evening together. Sometimes the spur-of-the-moment gatherings end up being even sweeter than the planned ones.

Lately, I’ve also been having some strange “world disaster” dreams again. I’m not sure why—they might just be my imagination running wild—but I noticed they happened around this same time last year. Maybe there’s something about springtime that stirs them up? Lord, You know. Please show me if there’s any significance to them or if I just need to rest my mind in You.