"I am calling you to a life of constant communion with Me. Basic training includes learning to live above your circumstances, even while interacting on that cluttered plane of life. You yearn for a simplified lifestyle, so that your communication with Me can be uninterrupted. But I challenge you to relinquish the fantasy of an uncluttered world. Accept each day just as it comes, and find Me in the midst of it all."
Oh, Hallelujah! It's like all the crazies in my head flew away and exploded in the sunlight! To be affirmed that my day, my life as a busy mother of four is not hopeless, not void of a relationship with God just because my laundry room is full of clothes, my floor is filthy and all the dishes need put away. It turns out chaos is not an absolute deterrent for a faith-filled life, which is excellent news around here.....
(yes, there is also a dog playing the piano in this picture)
Because here is the ugly, honest truth about me.
I want it all.
I want to know God and walk with Jesus and feel His Spirit, and I want the bathrooms clean at the same time. Is that too much to ask?
I want to cook dinner for my family, and teach my kids about following Christ.
I want to volunteer and serve my husband, and hear God's voice.
And I can! I can have it all! I do not have to choose. I certainly don't see all these things as equal. I understand the need for balance, the danger in thinking my ways are higher than His. But I can enjoy (or sometimes not enjoy!) a day so busy and full of action and still go to sleep feeling His peace at night.
Can you??
Quit making God's peace seem so unattainable. Quit thinking you need a spiritual retreat and a trip up the mountain to know He is there. God is here, now, in the midst of it all. He meets us where we are. In the middle of the night, He whispers to the mother rocking her child back to sleep. In rush hour traffic He lends us a glimpse of the sunrise. At the grocery store, a kind smile from a stranger.
Do you know what the problem with the Tower of Babel was? Our terms. Our attempt to meet God in our own way, by our own means. We don't need a tower to reach God. We just need to invite Him into the everything of our day. Our meetings, our meals, our to-do list. Look at Mary and Martha. Martha's problem was not her to-do list. It was her lack of joy, her lack of Him.
So lighten up. Chances are life isn't going to start slowing down any time soon. And if it does it won't be that way for long. Do your laundry. Feed your family. Go to work. Take the downtime when you can get it. But in the meantime...He is there. Find Him.
XOXO....Kelly
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