Dear Doer,
WORDS // MARIE KING
You’re killin’ it. That to do list. Boom. Done.
Those days are awesome, aren’t they? Wake up at 6, put the hot water on the stove. Read, pray. Remind yourself who you belong to and what He has given you for the day. Get your butt to the gym. Work hard. Go to work, and handle each task with care. Lunch. Wow, that was really encouraging. More work. Home. Class. Pay attention. Put your freaking phone away. Hurry home so you can see the roomies before everyone goes to bed and you have to go to bed and do it all over again.
Those days when your head hits the pillow and you know that you gave it every single bit of what you had, and that you know you are doing exactly what you are meant to do, but that you could never do it without His strength and grace most of all. Those are some good days. I wish I could say I felt like that every day.
Something that has been swirling around my mind a lot lately is how we maintain a careful focus on what really matters. It is just far too easy to waste time and let it slip away.
For the other days when we don’t feel as in step with what needs to get done and more importantly, how we treat people as we accomplish the tasks we’ve been entrusted to, question marks rush in.
Distraction, selfishness, and temptation to be lazy are so near. How do I maintain this moment by moment focus?
At the end of last year, I read a fellow blogger’s writings on what it means to be really engaged, exactly where you are. It really shook me. How different would my conversations with people be throughout the day if I put my phone down and listened undividedly?
How do I focus on the things that actually matter? How do I steward my time, opportunities and relationships well, in a way that brings honor to our Creator? Where am I wasting time and effort with things that don’t matter at all in the greater scheme of things?
Do I really have this passion for God, or is it more for the great things that I’ve done for Him?
Because the second one is idolatry. And that’s a scary thought.
Watch this. We all are in need of a perspective shift of how are time really is but a tiny glimpse on this earth.
Francis, one of the most humble Godly men I have ever heard speak. He illustrates it so simply, so perfectly.
I want to spend my time on the things that matter most to God. In college, one of the books I read said, “There are three things that are eternal. God, the Word of God, and the souls of man.”
This year, I want to spend more time engaged in each of those three areas. I want the things that matter deeply to the heart of God to matter that deeply to me too. But isn’t that what happens when you love someone? What they care about, becomes what you care about. Your passions, their passions. Your desires, their desires.
Deeper still, I don’t want to get caught up in the things God cares about and find my worth and well being in those good things. Good as they well may be, I want to get caught up in Him. I want my love for Him to be the fuel that fills me up to overflow onto all of the opportunities and hardships and people He has put right here in front and to the sides of me. Right here, today.
I want to maintain this perspective of constant stillness with Christ, knowing confidently well that I need just be still and rest in Him. He will be exalted in all the nations, and in all the earth!
I want to do less and be more, because of who God is and what He has already done!
Grace and Peace dear friends.
PHOTO // TIMOTHY SHAMBRA