Have you ever read something that pierces you to the soul -- that makes you feel like the author somehow found out your inner weaknesses and then wrote specifically to you?
I was recently reading a daily devotional called "Jesus Calling" that a friend recently turned me on to. It's a compilation of journal entries written by a woman named Sarah as she meditated on God's words to her through Scripture. So it's written as if Jesus were speaking to us. Sounds kinda weird but it's totally based on what he says in the Bible. Anyhow, I wanted to share with you a recent entry that really convicted me because I feel like it's something many of you may relate to as well:
"...You tend to make mental checklists of things you need to do in order to gain control of your life. If only you could check everything off your list, you could relax and be at peace. But the more you work to accomplish that goal, the more things crop up on your list. The harder you try, the more frustrated you become."
Hello! Can I get an Amen! from anyone who can relate to this!? Total story of my life. Guilty as charged.
It goes on to say:
"There is a better way to find security in this life. Instead of scrutinizing your checklist, focus your attention on My Presence with you. This continual contact with Me will keep you in My Peace. Moreover, I will help you sort out what is important and what is not, what needs to be done now and what does not. Fix your eyes not on what is seen (your circumstances), but on what is unseen (My Presence)."
Another friend recently sent me a devotional excerpt written by Elisabeth Elliot, a woman I absolutely adore. I have read most of her books and feel that she has mentored me through them. I can't find the devotional but I will paraphrase. She wrote, "If you have more things on your to-do list for today than you can possibly complete then some of them are not from God. He knows how long each thing will take and only gives you what you can manage."
SO often I try to achieve a sense of peace or control through frantically working to check things off my list. But I'm like a rabbit hopping after a carrot. Just as fast as I check things off the list, more things are piled on. There will never be a time in this life where my to-do list will be blank. There just won't. Eek! That gives me waves of anxiety just thinking about it. If I base my sense of peace and well being on this illusive goal of accomplishing everything on my list, I will never have it. So instead of believing that achieving peace is a product of working frantically to produce and accomplish, I need to remind myself to stop and shift my focus. SO much easier said than done. But if I want to have peace in the midst of the "perpetual to-do" it's necessary.
I am SOOO preaching to myself in this post. This is one of those things that I need to be reminded of every 10 seconds or so.
What kinds of things do you do or focus on to find peace?
I was recently reading a daily devotional called "Jesus Calling" that a friend recently turned me on to. It's a compilation of journal entries written by a woman named Sarah as she meditated on God's words to her through Scripture. So it's written as if Jesus were speaking to us. Sounds kinda weird but it's totally based on what he says in the Bible. Anyhow, I wanted to share with you a recent entry that really convicted me because I feel like it's something many of you may relate to as well:
"...You tend to make mental checklists of things you need to do in order to gain control of your life. If only you could check everything off your list, you could relax and be at peace. But the more you work to accomplish that goal, the more things crop up on your list. The harder you try, the more frustrated you become."
Hello! Can I get an Amen! from anyone who can relate to this!? Total story of my life. Guilty as charged.
It goes on to say:
"There is a better way to find security in this life. Instead of scrutinizing your checklist, focus your attention on My Presence with you. This continual contact with Me will keep you in My Peace. Moreover, I will help you sort out what is important and what is not, what needs to be done now and what does not. Fix your eyes not on what is seen (your circumstances), but on what is unseen (My Presence)."
Another friend recently sent me a devotional excerpt written by Elisabeth Elliot, a woman I absolutely adore. I have read most of her books and feel that she has mentored me through them. I can't find the devotional but I will paraphrase. She wrote, "If you have more things on your to-do list for today than you can possibly complete then some of them are not from God. He knows how long each thing will take and only gives you what you can manage."
SO often I try to achieve a sense of peace or control through frantically working to check things off my list. But I'm like a rabbit hopping after a carrot. Just as fast as I check things off the list, more things are piled on. There will never be a time in this life where my to-do list will be blank. There just won't. Eek! That gives me waves of anxiety just thinking about it. If I base my sense of peace and well being on this illusive goal of accomplishing everything on my list, I will never have it. So instead of believing that achieving peace is a product of working frantically to produce and accomplish, I need to remind myself to stop and shift my focus. SO much easier said than done. But if I want to have peace in the midst of the "perpetual to-do" it's necessary.
I am SOOO preaching to myself in this post. This is one of those things that I need to be reminded of every 10 seconds or so.
What kinds of things do you do or focus on to find peace?
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