BUSYNESS "I do not mean to make an idol of health, but it does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least. When we lie down to sleep at night, we offer our full appointment calendars to God in lieu of prayer, believing that God—who is as busy as we are—will surely understand." —Barbara Brown Taylor, explaining why she is taking a year of Jubilee in 2000, not accepting any out of town speaking engagements and working only 40 hours a week in ministry. "Divine Subtraction, in The Christian Century, 11/3/99, p. 3. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson BUSYNESS/SABBATH/REST Why are we so restless? Why must every moment of our days be filled with ceaseless activities? We’ve replaced our porch swings with instant messaging, pagers and cell phones. We rush from here to there, with no apparent destination. We’re in a hurry. We’re busy. The people of Ridgewood New Jersey recently said “Enough!” With massive coordination, they instituted a “Family Night.” There were no church activities. No Soccer games. No homework. Nothing. Nothing, that is, except time and family. “This was terribly exciting [news],” writes Anna Quindlen, “until I realized that this was not one night a week, but one single night.” —Newsweek, May 13, 2002, p. 76 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson Why would a town doing nothing for just one night catch the attention of a columnist for a national publication? Because doing nothing is a big deal in our super-sized, jammed packed, over scheduled society. Too bad the people of the New Jersey suburb only did it for one night. Too bad our town hasn’t done it at all. But why wait for our civic leaders to goad us into doing what we already know we should. At least one day a week do something that will revolutionize your family and personal life. Do nothing. Exodus 20:8 KJV “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
BUSYNESS
In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest writes,
“For many of us, the problem stems from the fact that we have forfeited
God in the busyness of life’s activities-even church work. A recent study
of two dozen conservative Christians who left the church found that while
most were actively involved in church programs, they were starving on the
inside.”
--Satisfy your Soul, 49. Illustration by Jim L.
Wilson
Psalm 46:10 (KJV) “Be still, and know that I am
God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
For more information on Satisfy your Soul go to:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576831302/freshministry
BUSYNESS In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest writes, “When our lies feel mechanical and driven, we are effectively closed to the grace of God. We may busily serve God but, ironically, the God we serve becomes a stranger. Our lives and Christian service echo with a haunting emptiness.” --Satisfy your Soul, 126. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson For more information on Satisfy your Soul go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576831302/freshministry
BUSYNESS In Seeking the Face of God, Gary Thomas writes, “The sin many of us fall into s not that we shake our fists at God and defy Him to His face; that is the sin of unbelievers. Our sin is that we passively repel against God, filling our lives with so much noise and busyness that God’s voice cannot, or will not, penetrate.” --Seeking the Face of God, 104-5. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson Psalm 46:10 (HCSB) “Stop [your fighting]—and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
BUSYNESS
In Seeking the Face of God, Gary Thomas writes,
“A drug addict cannot expect to give up drugs without paying the price
of withdrawal. We who have been drugged by diversions cannot expect to
enter the quiet without a struggle. Our souls will roar for diversion,
the fix that saves us from God’s presence.”
--Seeking the Face of God, 107. Illustration by
Jim L. Wilson
Psalm 46:10 (MSG) "Step out of the traffic! Take
a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything."
For more information on Seeking the Face of God go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736900195/freshministry BUSYNESS
In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest writes,
“We schedule ourselves to the eyebrows and leave little time for reflection
on matters of spiritual significance. The U.S. military, which lives euphemisms,
calls this ‘task saturation.’”
--Satisfy your Soul, 125. Illustration by Jim L.
Wilson
Psalm 46:10 (ASV) “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” For more information on Satisfy your Soul go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576831302/freshministry BUSYNESS
In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest writes,
“Every one of us must make a strategic decision to break the cycle of perpetual
busyness and learn how to quiet our souls before the Lord. We need to move
from being externally driven performance machines to internally motivated
intimates of God.”
--Satisfy your Soul, 151. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson Psalm 46:1 (MSG) “God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.” For more information on Satisfy your Soul go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576831302/freshministry
BUSYNESS The Information Technology company, Unlimited IT was frustrated with the slow transmission times on the nation’s Internet system, and devised an experiment to show just how slow it was. They pitted an old-fashioned carrier pigeon against the modern Internet to see which could transmit a computer file quicker. The company strapped a data card to the leg of an 11 month old carrier pigeon named Winston. They released the bird at the moment they sent a file over the Internet between two cities, 50 miles apart. It took the bird 1 hour and 8 minutes to fly between cities. After downloading the files, the total time required to transfer files by bird was two hours, six minutes, and 57 seconds. In that time, only four percent of the file transferred over the transmission lines. The Internet company could not be reached for comment, although they claim their service will improve once a new fiber optic cable linking South Africa to East Africa is completed next year. Pigeon beats Net Firm in data transfer race;
What is it that is driving us to live life at such breakneck speed? OK, I get it that the Internet should be faster than a pigeon, but still, what is driving us to be in such a hurry. Getting there in a hurry isn’t always the goal—getting to the right place is. Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted
among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
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