Busyness at times can prevent us from Hearing from God
Have you ever had those days or weeks where your planner is so packed you can't even get a break in? It even feels like you can use more hours in the day.
I'm sure we have all be there at one point in our life's and if we are honest with ourselves, we all have been guilty of being too busy to do those things that fuel our soul. Like hearing from God. We are so good at putting in our calendars for the week the things we need to execute, but at times leave the most important thing out that things that will help us throughout our crazy packed days.
Being busy does not require me to be rushed. Sometimes we are really good at living really rushed, and really, that’s not good. I’ll pack my schedule full, then become so focused on my to-do list that I wind up living in a state of “get to the next thing.” Other than the fact that it’s an empty way to engage my schedule, this ends up presenting another problem: my busyness creates a momentum that gets harder and harder to slow down.
Today’s culture tells us to wear busyness like a badge of honor. We flaunt our full schedules because it makes us feel important, but is it good for us?
Busyness has a cost.
We all want to hear from God, we want Him to speak into areas of our lives we feel desperately need answers. We want to feel His presence, and be assured of His love for us. We want relief from our anxieties; we want to reside in His peace.
The problem is, we’re expecting to hear Him over the thunderously whirring machines of our lives, but that’s not how Scripture tells us He speaks. It tells us that He speaks to us in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13). Just as Scripture doesn’t suggest that God shouts to us above the chaos of our lives. Some of my most meaningful encounters with God have happened when I’ve intentionally set time aside, protecting it from the demands of my schedule and distractions of the outside world. Practically, this looks like a cleared calendar a time I have intentionally set aside.
God desires to speak to us, but if we don’t take time to disconnect from all the things that keep us constantly preoccupied, those desires will get drowned out. We’ll miss them. One of Satan’s most effective weapons in keeping us from intimacy with God and from purpose is busyness, because we don’t view it as “bad.” It’s subtle, yet it unsuspectingly steals our focus, keeping us from stilling our hearts, which is the space God speaks into.
When life is busy, and our hearts, minds, and bodies get used to moving at a certain pace, it’s harder to slow that momentum to quiet our hearts before the Lord.
Then, even though our heads know differently, our hearts can slip into a mentality of believing we have to convince God to speak to us or show us reminders of His hand in our lives.
But that’s a lie.
God wants to reveal Himself to us through random occurrences in our everyday lives, and He wants to give us opportunities to follow His prompting and feel His purpose. God is constantly present, continually wanting to commune with us in every moment of our day we just have to slow our hearts enough to see it.
Resisting a rushed life is necessary for a life lived in constant communion with God, and I’m working to find balance in this area of my life, trying to create rhythms of rest so that busyness doesn’t take over. This often means finding opportunities to stick in those earplugs and scheduling space on my calendar, then protecting it as I would an appointment.
As for now, let's to intentionally create those moments in our life's where God can speak and for those meaningful encounters with Jesus.
Love, Jess