TIME TO SLOW DOWN

 Psalms 46:10 (NIV)

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

               I had an experience this morning that reawakened an old memory. I returned from a week of vacation last night and this morning I re-entered my work schedule. As I was driving into my office, I thought back to my experience of returning from a mission trip to Ukraine.

               For twelve years I led a mission trip to Ukraine each August. When we arrived in our sister village it was like stepping back 100 years in time. Everything slowed down to a walking pace. There were few cars in our village. The people who lived there moved at what to us seemed like a very leisurely pace. They were not in a hurry. They had the time to sit on a bench in their courtyard and talk. At the end of each day, after we had run our day-camp for the children of the village, we would take a walk out into the adjoining fields. It was refreshing to have the freedom to experience the countryside. We got used to living at a walking pace. Then, when our time in the village was over, we would make our way back to Kiev, board an airplane and head home. Every time we landed back in the States, I felt like someone had pushed the fast forward button on life. We instantly went from a walking pace to a running pace. For a few days it was disorienting.

               Coming back from my vacation I felt a little of that old disorientation. For the past week I had the privilege of sleeping in past 6:00 AM and having a leisurely breakfast at 9:00 AM. Then, as we spent time with my Dad, we were able to really slow down. We played some games, went out to eat, attended a couple of family events. Even on our drive home we took our time, stopping to see some friends and stopping at a couple of interesting places along the way. Then this morning I re-entered the traffic that was not content to drive the speed limit but was compelled to push, push, push well beyond it. Everyone (almost) seemed to be in a big hurry. I felt swept along.

               Many people live hurried lives. They fill every minute with some activity. They race from one obligation to another. And when they don’t have an obligation, they schedule something to fill the time. It is rare for people to build down-time into their life. Dr. Richard Swenson masterfully talked about this in his book “The Overload Syndrome.” He made the point that most of us have no margin on our lives. When unexpected things happen to us, they cause an overload that can cause us to crash and burn.

               I heard a speaker recently who made an interesting point. He said, in order to be excellent at something we have to be willing to be average at most things. Every time we say yes to one thing we are saying no to a number of other things. If we are going to have some margin in our lives, we need to be willing to say no to a great number of things. The idea that we have to be busy all of the time is a fallacy that will run us ragged, sap our energy, and actually hinder us from thriving in life.

               I have been reading two books lately that have raised the issue of slowing down. In both books, the authors make the point that hurry and busyness are often a smokescreen that keep us from dealing with the real issues in our lives. If we can fill every minute with busyness, then we don’t have to stop and examine what is going in under the surface. In order for us to be truly healthy emotionally, spiritually, and physically we need to learn to slow down.

               When God gave the people of Israel the ten commandments, He instructed them to take time to stop once a week. He called it sabbath. They were to do all of their work for six days, then on the seventh day they were to rest. God expanded this concept to include everyone in the community as well as the animals and ultimately the land itself. God did not design humanity to run at full speed seven days a week, 24 hours a day. God called for time to stop and reflect. To give their body, mind, and spirit time to rest.

               In our 24/7 culture we have lost our bearings. We wonder why we are exhausted all of the time. We wonder why our health continues to deteriorate even though we try to eat healthy and exercise. We wonder why our relationships are superficial and often fractured. It is time to slow down.

               The Psalmist penned God’s word to us in Psalm 46:10. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." If we are going to reorient our lives and get them back into balance, it will begin by being still before the Lord. We need to stop and listen to the One who created us and who loves us. The One who promised us life to the full, not a full to overflowing life. We need to stop and let God renew our soul. We need to stop trying to be God and let God be God.

               Life is busy and fast paced, there is not escaping that reality. But we do not have to live at an exhausting pace. It is okay to slow down. It is okay to say no. It is okay to take the time to do nothing for a while. Too often we let the world tell us what we should do. We need to be still before God and allow Him to tell us what He designed us to do. Near the end of Jesus’ life, He prayed and told God He had accomplished everything the Father had commanded Him to do. Jesus did not heal every sick person. He did not feed every hungry person. He did not cast out every demon. But Jesus did do everything the Father had called Him to do.

               Too often we fall into the trap of thinking we have to do everything. We fill every waking moment with activity because we are afraid of being still. Unconsciously, we are trying to outdo Jesus. What has God gifted you to do? What has the Father called you to do? If you will do those things, it will be enough. There will be time to be still and know God and know yourself.

               One of my favorite passages of scripture is Hebrews 12:1-3. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. There is much to glean from these three verses, but let me point out just a couple of thoughts.

               We are called to run our race, not someone else’s race. Too often I have tried to run a race that was not mine. It never goes very well. Each of us needs to ask God to show us the race that is marked out for us.

               We are to take our lead from Jesus. Jesus lived a full life, but not a frantic life. Jesus freely gave Himself away to others, yet was willing to pull away and spend time alone with the Father.

               When we follow Jesus’ example, we can live full lives without becoming weary and giving up. Those times when we feel like we want to give up are usually the times we have taken on more than we should. So we need to be willing to throw off everything that entangles us, even good things, so that we can run our race with godly perseverance.

Deuteronomy 5:12-14 (NIV)
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.

JESUS’ UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD

 Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

               Recently I was reminded of the biblical truth that God uses the weak things of the world to confound the strong. On the surface, this doesn’t look possible. It seems that those who are strong, from a worldly point of view, are the ones who win. If I may be bold, it seems like the bullies are the ones who get what they want and the rest of us just have to accept it. But I was reminded that God has a different economy and that those who play by His rules will ultimately win.

               The Bible Project is doing a year-long, intensive study in the Sermon on the Mount. The first part of their study has been focused on the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes, Jesus turned the world upside-down. He told the marinized, the powerless, and the forgotten that in God’s world they are the winners. This was true not because they were going to turn the tables on the bullies of their day. Instead, as they began to live out Kingdom values, they would transform their world. The first step to this radical transformation was to recognize their need and to turn to the only one who could meet that need.

               The Apostle John put it this way. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3:16-21 (NIV)

               Those who refuse to acknowledge who Jesus is and turn toward Him will continue to live in darkness. But those who turn toward Jesus in faith will live a new life in the light of God. Their entire world will be transformed. They will be given a strength that comes, not from themselves, but from God. This new strength will actually give them the upper hand in the world. It doesn’t mean that they will not have troubles, but that they will face those troubles with confidence and courage. As Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)

               Paul picked up on this idea in his letter to the church at Corinth. They were struggling with the idea of power and influence. They were tempted to fall back into the old power struggles of their old life. Paul reminded them that the Kingdom of God works differently. God’s power is revealed not in our human strength, but in our human weakness.

               Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV)

               There is no doubt that we are in a spiritual battle, with very physical manifestations. But we cannot give in to the temptation to fight fire with fire, so to speak. We have been called to wage a very different kind of battle, one that relies totally on the power of God. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he again had to address the issue of power.

               By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:1-5 (NIV)

               When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, those listening must have felt that what Jesus said was unrealistic and too good to be true. Yet the early church turned its world upside-down and eventually transformed the culture of the day. It seems like the things of the world are winning the day today. The words of Jesus seem unrealistic in our caustic and combative world. But as I was reminded recently, God often uses the weak to confound the strong. He stands against the proud and the arrogant and He will bring them down.

               Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength under control. The truly meek person understands that their strength comes from God. They can stand firm even in difficult situations and trust God to empower them. When we play by Jesus’ rules, we too can turn our world upside-down.

               But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
               Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16-18 (NIV)

WHEN YOU FEEL INVISIBLE

 John 10:3

    The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

                I do not presume that everyone has had this experience, but it is one that many of us can relate to. It is the feeling of being invisible, unseen, unacknowledged. I have experienced this feeling in several different ways throughout my life.

                When I was a boy at school, I often felt invisible to my classmates. I often felt like an outsider looking in. When I got to jr. high I intentionally tried to be invisible to certain people, i.e. the class bullies. At the same time, I felt invisible to the students who coursed around me. In high school, I was actively involved in choir. Each year our school would put on a musical. Each year I would audition and each year I would be placed in the choir. Both my older and younger brothers had been given speaking roles at different times. This made me feel even more invisible when I was denied the same experience.

                There have been many times in ministry when I have felt invisible. When I have watched colleagues of mine recognized for their ministry efforts, I often felt left out. Out of curiosity, I recently looked up how old Rick Warren and Max Lucado are. They are both my age. When I look at what they have accomplished, I think, what happened to me?

                There have been many times when I have attended a gathering of pastors and ministry leaders when I have felt invisible in the crowd. I have never been the kind of person who can command a room. I have often found myself hanging out on the fringes of the crowd, sometimes even hiding in the shadows.

                Why do I bring all of this up? It was prompted by a TV show we have been watching lately called MONK. It is the story of a brilliant detective who is plagued by countless obsessions and a low self-esteem. Recently, the episode we watched had several flashbacks to when Mr. Monk was in jr. high. As I watched his experience, I found myself transported back to my own experience.

                You can write off my ramblings as venting or complaining or even feeling sorry for myself, and you may be right. But that does not negate the genuine feeling of being invisible. It is a real experience and many people live in those feelings every day of their lives.

                The danger for those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus is that we may begin to feel that we are invisible to God. God seems to care about other people, but we feel left out. If you have ever felt that way, welcome to the club. It is essential that we recognize our feeling of invisibility and counter it with the reality of our relationship with Christ. We are never invisible to Him. We are never insignificant to Him. And what we do in His name is always noticed by Him, whether or not anyone else pays attention.

                One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 139. David may have been feeling invisible when he wrote this psalm, but he took his feelings and aligned them with the reality of who God is.

Psalm 139:1-12

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord. 

You hem me in--behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain. 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

                 When we feel invisible, we need to come back to this Psalm and be reminded that we are never invisible to God. God is watching with keen interest what is going on in our lives. God is watching with love and compassion, desiring for us to experience His unbounded care. God is watching and He delights in us.

                Years ago, I made a conscious choice to let go of the comparison game. I decided that all that really mattered was what God thinks about me. I do not have to compete with others to feel valued and appreciated, because the creator of the universe has shown His light of love into my life. In the end, the only opinion that will really matter is His.

Matthew 25:21

    "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'