Here’s a question posed by our pastor, Mark Love, recently:
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Why do we work so much? What are we trying to achieve/ensure?
He led off with this and went on to describe the importance of trust. As I sat there, I asked myself what (or who) do I trust in …
- technology (?) sometimes…maybe when it works
- friends / family (Am I genuinely there for others? Sometimes I don’t feel like I am.)
- God – When I want something? Or, it’s convenient?
- government (?) – hardly, even though our currency says “we” trust in a higher being
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Proverbs 3:5 (ESV) says –
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
That’s a tough one. Maybe the hardest in the entire Bible, if we really look at it and think about the word “all” as it relates to our hearts. The tiniest specks of pride devoutly holding onto our hardened hearts as they collectively scream “We know better than anyone else!”
Mark said that instead of trusting God, we “kill ourselves trying to figure it out ourselves,” and he then asked, “Are we burning bright?”
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See, if we honestly asked ourselves this question in solitude we would admit we want this, but we burn out instead.
How will 2016 look for you? Me? Us?
Burnout is often fueled by fear, guilt, or greed.
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Fear that I must do more to keep what I have (American Dream). Guilt that I am not enough so I need to prove myself by doing more (status). Greed that I still don’t have enough and need MORE (consumerism).
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Question:
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Are we trading God’s divine plan for our own short-sighted goals?
Oswald Chambers wrote “we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.”