Monday morning, third cup of coffee, laundry swirling in suds, fish tank gurgling for a water change. My spiritual muscles groan as I settle into my BSF lesson. Acts of the Apostles. Not quite the pearl in every shell that I enjoyed while reading Proverbs over the break. This is real work. Heavy lifting of spiritual concepts to reveal real life application.
I would love to regale you with the events of the past weekend. Bike rides, the museum, the playground, art projects (yes, more than one), bowl games, etc... We had a wonderful family-filled weekend. Seriously good. I’m not sure how helpful recounting it would be. Sitting in a desk chair facing another work week after a long Christmas break, don’t we all want verbal caffeine, a reason to press into this week?
Statistically, we’re about to give up on all our New Year resolutions. This week is the end. I can feel it coming. My energy is waning for pulling myself up by my bootstraps and persevering in my goal to simplify and focus. What now? Does it even matter if 2012’s resolutions fall short? After all, I loved God when my life was complicated, right?
This weekend suggests otherwise. We had a great time, completed lots of checklists, forged our family memories. But where was God? We sent silent “thank you’s” to Him for a fun day and sweet babies, but is that worship? Did we keep the cross before us? Did we go to war with sin?
In short, we hit our goal and missed the mark, all at the same time. We had a family-oriented, low cost, low fuel consumption weekend exactly like we planned. But our simplification did not lead us where we hoped. All our good intentions are for naught unless directed back to Jesus. I am humbled this morning by my constant need for the Holy Spirit’s power to turn my good plans into God’s Good Work.
Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
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