Simplify Life and Ministry
James 4:13-15
Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.
Years from now we will tell our children and grandchildren about an event that occurred in history in which a global pandemic occurred. We will tell them how families stayed home and didn’t go out to movies, sporting events or any other social event. We will tell them that restaurants closed, people worked remotely from home, churches closed, travel was banned and we will tell them how this pandemic created a national and global crisis. But I suspect we will tell them something else. We will tell them that families stayed home TOGETHER, ate dinner TOGETHER, played games TOGETHER and actually enjoyed life TOGETHER!
Now don’t misunderstand, I am certainly not advocating for another pandemic or shut down. The last one has been tough enough on individuals, families, businesses, our nation and this world. But it did teach a lesson: people enjoy a simpler, slower way of life.
We are a busy culture. We make plans, trips, reservations which creates calendars full of one activity after another. We have established a pace that is not sustainable and leads to exhaustion and burnout. And maybe we take a few hours or days to refresh ourselves, only to jump right back in, adding more fury and intensity to an already busy life. We cause our lives to become complex with overcommitment and a lack of rest. Perhaps that is at least partly what the Bible is talking about in James 4. People are making plans for tomorrow, going here and there, engaging in this and that.
But what if the Lord wills for us to keep things simple? What if we are to prioritize rest over busyness? What if the Lord wills for us to spend more relational time together, enjoying each other’s presence. What if this ministry He has called us to is not meant to be so intense and packed with commitments? What if part of seeking the Lord’s will is to find some needed time to relax? How can we know what God’s will is for us if we settle for the “it is what it is'' philosophy and are too busy to seek His counsel and wisdom for our lives and ministries? What if simplifying our lives and our ministries by resting would provide the time and margin we need to hear from the Lord about our priorities, schedules, plans and programs?
There is a specific definition of the word “rest” that caught my attention: “peace of mind or spirit” and “free from anxieties.” This is the kind of life I am dreaming of - peace of mind and free from anxieties! And I am challenged to simplify my life and ministry. It is up to each of us to seek the Lord for what our calendars and commitments should look like. As we fill our days with plans and purposes of His will, we can be at rest, experiencing peace of mind and a freedom from anxieties.
I am learning to simplify my life from the acronym of the word “rest.”
R - Relax! Do you ever truly relax? Is your spirit ever calm, quiet, and at ease? Do you take the time to wind down, put away the screens, take a break, breathe and to unwind? I encourage you to find the moments God has given you to rest, take a deep screen-free breath, and relax. (Matthew 11:28-30)
E - Enjoy! Do you really enjoy life or does life have you so consumed with deadlines and commitments that you even struggle with the things that are supposed to be fun? Do you savor life, savor your kids' ball games, savor time with your spouse and savor time with genuine friends? Are you enjoying life? (Psalm 127:1-2)
S - Surrender! I have some wonderful news for you: you are not in charge! That is exactly right. You really are not in charge; that is a role for God Himself. Oh, He may have given you some things that you are to steward, but you are not the owner, and you are not the absolute authority. So I encourage you to surrender that mindset to the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 4:8)
T - Trust! I am so grateful that I can trust my life and its concerns and worries over to Jesus. He is trustworthy and He is faithful. He does a much better job than I do! (Isaiah 26:3)
Today, you can decide to make a change, to simplify, to gain peace of mind and be free from anxiety. Life doesn’t have to stay at breakneck speed. Stop. Pray. Seek the Lord. Breathe. And then begin to make your plans according to His direction and His pace. He will guide you and keep you along the way. (Matthew 6:33)