The Nothingness of Busyness

This past weekend seemed like it came straight out of hell. Now, I have been labeled a drama queen a number of times, and you may deem this title warranted because the description of my weekend may seem to be a gross exaggeration, but this is how I really feel. Please, don’t get me wrong. I was busy doing all good stuff, and there was no major tragedy. Actually, by all appearances, I should be grateful for many of the events of the weekend knowing that we should be thankful in all things. However, I was so busy, I could not feel or think. I felt no shame when I made a fool of myself doing the Bible reading at church as a friend asked me to take her place earlier that morning. I tried to read hurriedly to prepare as I scurried from one activity to another, but I had no understanding of what the scripture was saying. There was something about Simeon and righteousness, yes and I believe Jesus was in there somewhere, unfortunately though I got no connection to what I was reading.

And, let’s not talk about communion. On second thought, it is best to do my communion confession right now. I was falling asleep as my mind strayed to the many dramas of the morning during the prayers at this solemn and holy time commemorating the shed blood and broken body of my Savior. There may have been a Bible reading too, but if there were, I missed it. With eyes closed and body swaying, one may have thought I was in the Spirit, moved by the moment, but one would have been wrong. Rather, I was falling asleep and trying not to keel over. As my eyes popped open, I heard prayers about the blood of Jesus. “Oh no,” I thought, “I missed the prayers about the body,” so I hurriedly ate the bread trying to look inconspicuous. I attempted to be alert for the right time to drink the wine, well grape juice. I am thankful my church doesn’t serve wine, because that would have really knocked me out. Looking to my left, I saw that my friend’s cup was empty. I missed it again. I asked quietly if we were supposed to drink, she shrugged yes. I gulped the grape juice down and then looked at my friend to the right, who held her full cup. What?!!! I had looked to the wrong friend. I was absolutely out of timing with communion. I just gave up and help my head down. My friend behind slapped me in the back and while smiling she said that she say me eating the bread from a long time ago. I guess I wasn’t inconspicuous after all. She admonished me for not listening, but I whined that I was tired and sleepy.
 

There was a lot happening over the weekend, many of which were unplanned. I got through them all, but not with excellence. It seemed like I went through a long test and failed some sections. My goal in life right now is to rest in the Lord, no matter the circumstance. I missed my target and failed big time. Thus far, if you were paying attention, unlike what I was doing in communion, you may have read the word “missed” several times. I missed a lot this past weekend, because I was doing a lot. Just way too much. In my tiredness, I could not concentrate on the meaning of the Bible passage I had to read and so fumbled through the privilege of reading the Word of God. I couldn’t connect during communion as my exhausted mind could not hold back the distraction of disruptive thoughts. Many of us go through life like this. We are busy with everything that looks good, but we miss God in all of these distractions. We have little time to be still and know God by connecting with His spirit. What is all our busyness for?

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

This may have been written by an older and more cynical King Solomon, who although wise, made some questionable choices that were not of God. He was busy building his kingdom with what he thought were strategic alliances with heathen nations. He united with wives who lured Him into idolatry, and turned Him away from God while he made worldly decisions. He later wrote, I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14

How many of us are striving after the wind? We may be doing a lot, but making little impact because we are not really obeying what God has told us to do, even though, we may feel like we are laboring for Him. This only makes us disjointed as we walk on paths that God did not ordain for us. Being a good Father, God will allow us to learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately though, sometimes we are so preoccupied with activities, we do not have time to hear God’s voice clearly and connect with His heart’s desire for us in order to recognize that we may be in error. In these circumstances, He may let us go through trials as a means of discipline in order to get our attention.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:11-13

I may have missed a lot this weekend, but all was not lost. There were lessons learned. The most important for me is that there is nothingness in busyness. Yes, I got a lot accomplished, but what was the impact? I didn’t feel as connected to God as I should have. I didn’t comprehend His Word and did not have the time to soak in His presence and experience His awesomeness during communion. Due to all that I was doing, I robbed myself of the most important thing – God Himself.

I have to walk on straighter paths from now on, and it is not that I won’t stumble in the future, but God will uphold me with His mighty hand. He is not going to let me go that easily. And although, I may have missed Him, He never once took His eyes off me.

Please learn from my experiences. You may have other takeaways from what you have read, but I want you to know that not everything that is good is ordained by God. Satan can cause us to go off from God’s path with works that look good, but just leaves us chasing after the wind, while missing what is important to God.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31. Isn’t that amazing? Even eating and drinking can glorify God. Let us take time to get refreshed and refilled by God, knowing that we can give Him glory in the ordinary things in life that don’t keep us busy doing nothing. And, we must always remember as Apostle Peter said, “whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Weapons of the Righteous – Being Right with the Lord

We have come to the end of the series, Weapons of the Righteous, but we need to look at the characteristics of a righteous person before we leave this series.  Psalm 37:29 states that the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. What a wonderful promise!   But, we must understand that righteousness is a prerequisite for this inheritance.  God has given us conditions to be endowed with this land. So, what does it mean to be righteous?  Let’s delve into Psalm 37 to see some of God’s definitions of a righteous person.  If we are to dwell in this land of inheritance, then we must trust in the Lord and do good to obtain this place where we are to cultivate faithfulness (v. 3).  Trusting in the Lord may be difficult when our dreams are dashed and we can’t see any good for the future, but our Abba Father encourages us to run into His arms knowing that when He throws us up in the air, He will catch us. We need to trust in His character, knowing He is a good and faithful God.  Therefore, we who are His adopted children now have His DNA running through our veins and we too will inherit His characteristics of doing good and being faithful as we walk in His paths of righteousness.

Those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land (v. 9).  A righteous person waits on the Lord and doesn’t run to man first for direction, but continually seeks and waits on the Lord.  Resting in the Lord also goes along with waiting patiently on the Lord (v.7).  When we are at rest in the Lord, our eyes are not on the storms around us, but on Christ within us.  We are not easily ruffled by annoyances, but stay in perfect peace, which goes beyond all human understanding so that when folks think that we will fall apart from the tsunamis of life, they will understand that it only built us up.  The inheritance not only goes to those who wait on the Lord, but also to the humble (v. 11).  But, can God trust us to be humbled by humiliation, losing our material possessions, friendships and even the respect of family members, while still staying right with Him?  Sometimes God allows circumstances in our life to humble us so that He can later exalt us.  Nevertheless, let us not look at exaltation through human eyes, neither the inheritance of the land.   God’s definition of inheritance is far above our understanding.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

Our inheritance is imperishable and indestructible, and it is kept in heaven for us.  There is nothing like it on earth and it is far better than we could ever ask for, or imagine.  How we spend our time on earth sets us up for this inheritance, which we will get when we are in our eternal home.  This home is where our Heavenly Father resides and it is our land by right when we are His children.

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Revelations 22:1-5

I don’t know about you, but this is without a doubt where I want to go.  However, not just anyone can reside in this majestic kingdom. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Revelations 22:14   The heirs are the ones who are arrayed in a robe of righteousness.   They are like the Son who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15).   The Son, Jesus, spoke of Himself in John 7:18 saying, He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. If we are to be righteous we cannot presumptuously speak our own words even though they might be eloquent, as we will draw people to us and away from God.  A righteous person seeks the glory of God and is sent by God to carry out His mission.  It is quite unfortunate when God searches for someone to follow His directives and find none suitable for His task and none to stand in the gap for the earthly land so that He would not destroy it (Ezekiel 22:30)  Not many of us are like Isaiah who readily said, “Here I am send me,”  after having a vision from God where he encountered His holiness and had his “unclean lips” touched with burning coal by a seraphim, which took away His guilt and then his sins were forgiven.  Thankfully, we don’t have to take the burning coal method, as Jesus did it all for us at the cross. He took away our guilt and shame and because of His shed blood, our sins are forgiven.  

By now, we should be getting a better understanding of our inheritance, knowing we cannot live our lives as we would like and still expect to be heirs to this glorious kingdom.  We need to be upright in conduct (Psalm 37:14) even when the wicked come against us.  It is better to have little and be right with God than to have an abundance and be wrong in God’s sight (Psalm 37:16).  The righteous are gracious and gives generously, therefore they will be blessed by God and inherit the eternal land (Psalm 37:21-22).  And, the Lord has promised to those who are righteous that He will not forsake them, and their children will not go begging for bread, and He will preserve them forever. 

Those who are righteous are wise, speak justly and have God’s law in their hearts (Psalm 37:30-31).  The righteous are blameless before God and will be people of peace.  And, when trouble comes, which it will, they run to the Lord.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him. Psalm 37:39-40

Being righteous is not easy.  Isaiah was sent to a rebellious people and God had him go naked for three years as a prophetic sign to His people.  Yet, he had a fruitful life that still impacts many greatly through his writings.  Another major prophet who had a difficult life was Ezekiel. 

And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. Ezekiel 24:15-18

What would you do if God doesn’t give you the desire of your heart, or He takes away the desire of your eyes?  God took away Ezekiel’s beloved wife and told him not to mourn for her as a prophetic act to the people around him, and Ezekiel obeyed God because he loved Him and feared Him.  He desired to serve the Lord, no matter the cost.  I must confess, I struggle with a lot of what God has “sent” me to do even though there is no comparison to what was done to Ezekiel.  

As I write this post, I feel like daggers are piercing my heart as I know that I am not where I need to be.   I am grateful though, that I am not who I used to be.  I was one of those rebellious people, but now my desire is to be right with the Lord as I delight in Him.  I know also that the pain I go through as I walk His paths of righteousness is for His name’s sake.  It is not designed to break me, but to build His kingdom, which is filled with those who need to be encouraged and loved.