A nice place to take a rest <3
I am so far behind in some of my daily devotional reading. Traveling and early mornings out the door have been part of the issue and then there is just general laziness on my end to not make catching up a priority.
When I do have a minute or two to sit down in my chair and pull out my reading, I opt for other activities. And yes, catching up on the house, paperwork and bills…but still…I could have done my reading.
Yet, each time this happens, I find grace meeting me at the point where I pick my book and Bible and journal back up again. This morning I took some time and read a couple of days of the Bible (in fairness, I did read ahead before we left for Washington so I am only a day behind on that part now!)
I also picked up the small devotional I read daily and caught up a few days at least with those readings.
And in one, I gleaned such a sweet word that I am inclined to pass it along.
The verse was from 1 Thessalonians and is a portion of a larger verse. The text leading up to the devotional verse I read talks about loving others and how this is taught by God. Even when we do it well, we should continue to do it plus “more and more”. This is a good word for us as we can always love better and more fully.
But the verse I want to focus on and the one featured in the writing was this:
…and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12
The verse caught me today and I didn’t hurry on to complete another reading just to check a box. I sat a while and pondered the phrasing.
This is a familiar passage to me and each time I read it, I feel I have just been offered a comfortable bench in the shade beside a gently rolling stream. Refreshed by a breeze that is just the right temperature and surrounded by lush greens and interesting rocks, I can take some deep breaths and linger in the wisdom of these words.
First off, I love the author using “ambition” to launch a goal for my life.
Usually ambition has to do with high energy, self motivation and lofty endeavors. It is an interesting use of contrast…blending ambition with being quiet. Not silent…quiet.
And so I see that leading a quiet life will take a lot of effort on my part. It won’t just come to me or fall in my lap. I certainly can see this is the case.
All around me there are issues, opinions, manipulations, positions and powers that want to ramp up the noise and chaos in my head and heart. Thanks to media, social media and the busy schedules of keeping up with the things we want to do and the things we need to do, I have access to a whole lot of business that really isn’t “mine”.
As Russ and I settle into what is known as the “retirement” years, working with my hands is something I have to actively seek to do as well.
I think about the places and people I enjoy being with these days and they are people like me who are making it their “ambition” to seek a quiet life and to continue to work with their hands. They inspire me and I want to do the same for others.
This doesn’t mean completely sticking my head in the sand.
But it does mean discerning what I can do something about and what I am being called to pray about.
The devotion this morning expressed the red flag of having crossed the line with the word overwhelmed. The author suggested that if I am describing my state of being consistently as being overwhelmed, then I probably have taken on more than what was mine to take.
This means evaluating WHY I feel overwhelmed and then identifying what things I am including as my business that are not in God’s job description for me.
I also think it means realizing I do not need to weigh in on every discussion happening around me, I don’t need to know what everyone else is doing and I need to be present in the tasks that I am working on.
This does take effort…it is an ambitious goal…but the resulting peace is definitely worth the effort.
God bless as you take a moment to sit on the bench being offered and figure out where your business ends.
Then “ambitiously” stay in the limits <3