John 4:27-42, Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:12-17, Luke 4:14-15, John 4:43-46, Luke 4:16-30, Mark 1:21-28, Luke 4:31-37, Mark 1:29-39, Matthew 8:14-17, Luke 4:38-44, Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16
I have been wrestling for some time about how to deal with all of the stuff I have going on. I oscillate between thinking I am doing too much versus thinking that God is leading me through a challenging season. I don't know which is the case - perhaps both. On the one hand, I see that my relationships with my wife and friends are stressed because I'm stressed, but at the same time "to whom much is given, much is expected." I certainly don't think I'm wasting time on anything worthless, except for what little time I spend watching TV each week. So, it is interesting to observe the life of Christ and see how He lived; here are a few things I noticed:
Everything He did was prompted by the Spirit:
He served in three principal functions - preaching the Gospel, discipling, and healing:
He was systemically connected to the Father through prayer:
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please help me know what to do. Thank you that I can always come to you. I know that you love me and that you have a good plan for me. Please help me find the balance according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I pray that I will be consistent in prayer as you pour your love, life, and light into and through me into the lives of those around me. I pray that my teaching/discipling service would honor you and that you will use me to heal others as Christ did. Father, please help me honor my wife. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my model for living. Amen.
I have been wrestling for some time about how to deal with all of the stuff I have going on. I oscillate between thinking I am doing too much versus thinking that God is leading me through a challenging season. I don't know which is the case - perhaps both. On the one hand, I see that my relationships with my wife and friends are stressed because I'm stressed, but at the same time "to whom much is given, much is expected." I certainly don't think I'm wasting time on anything worthless, except for what little time I spend watching TV each week. So, it is interesting to observe the life of Christ and see how He lived; here are a few things I noticed:
Everything He did was prompted by the Spirit:
Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
I don't know if everything I'm doing is prompted by the Spirit. I need to evaluate what is of the Spirit and what is not. I don't know how to do that.He served in three principal functions - preaching the Gospel, discipling, and healing:
Mark 1:39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
I am currently involved in several Gospel and discipling opportunities, and I suppose a few "healing" ministries, but perhaps it's too much.He was systemically connected to the Father through prayer:
Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
I need to grow a lot in prayer. I do not pray systematically as I should, nor is my prayer as consistent as breathing (spiritual-physical analogy).Prayer
Heavenly Father, please help me know what to do. Thank you that I can always come to you. I know that you love me and that you have a good plan for me. Please help me find the balance according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I pray that I will be consistent in prayer as you pour your love, life, and light into and through me into the lives of those around me. I pray that my teaching/discipling service would honor you and that you will use me to heal others as Christ did. Father, please help me honor my wife. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my model for living. Amen.
I understand this completely. I've wrestled with the same things, with the added thought of, "How much more am I going to be able to do this?"
ReplyDeleteI have to balance the thoughts with God's word. Am I just being "busy" with what I'm doing with my time? Or am I finding joy in serving Yahweh, my family, and others (in that order)?
The answer lies in the facet of being able to distinguish how much time is spent serving Yahweh, my family, and others. Can I truly distinguish the time of my day, week, month, etc where I know I was serving/worshipping God? Did I spend equal time serving my family's needs? Did I spend equal time serving others? Once I distinguish that, the answer to "How much longer can I do this?"; becomes either cutting back, or finding encouragement in Christ who strengthens me.
I'm learning that the time serving God is reflected in how I serve my family and others; as well as how much of my decisions I give to Him to lead me through. Here's an example of what I mean. At work, I'm faced with a project where I have to research tax issues, and come to a conclusion with a course of action and present it to my supervisors. When I get the initial information, there are times when I pray about it (it's currently about 40-60, I'm trying to implement this more often; so it's a work in progress). My prayer is for God to give me His wisdom in how to handle this and what course of action our company needs to take. I pray that this answer would find favor with my supervisors, and that when they give me credit for it, I would give it back to Him verbally to my supervisors. So that is serving and worshipping God with my time at work. I can distinguish that time (again it's about 40-60, trying to make it 100).
I spend a great amount of time at home during the week, and weekend serving my family. Monday through Friday, I get home from work after 4:30pm, and I help Heather with the kiddo's; feeding them, giving them baths, praying with them before putting them to bed, etc. Then on Monday-Wednesday, after the kids are down, I do some work for the church. Now that FAITH has started, I go directly from work to church on Tuesdays; and I meet Heather there on Wednesday and take the kids so she can participate in FAITH. Thursday and Friday is when I try to get yard work, etc done around the house. Saturday is all family time! Sunday, I bring Abigale with me in the mornings, and she "helps" me with the folders for the BLG's, and turns on computers, etc.
I serve people at the church during the week, making calls to guests, FAITH visits, writing/putting together current and future lessons and visuals, meetings with Muenchity, visiting members in need, etc.
So by being able to break out the purpose of how my time is spent; and how I worship and serve God through that time; I am able to answer the question of "Am I just being busy, or am I serving the Lord, my family, and others?"
I would encourage you to start there. What is the purpose of what you are doing? Is the goal of what you're doing serving God, your family, and others? How is the goal (serving God, your family, and others) of what you're doing accomplished? Then you'll know what you need to cut back, and what you need to continue. Let me know how I can help you in this if you decide to do it.