Dear Church,

For thousands of years, the pace of life was three miles an hour, which is the pace of walking.  Today, life is hundreds of miles faster, consuming, demanding, and stressful.  Drive here.  Pick up that.  Meet him.  Call that person.  Call that person back.  Plan the meal.  Plan that diet.  Pick up groceries to match that diet. Feed the dog.  Feed the fish.  Feed the plant.  Go to work.  Write that email.  Meet on Zoom.  Meet in person.  Go to the doctor.  Navigate relationships.  Scroll up.  Scroll down. Volunteer at church.  Open the bills. Pay the bills… The list never ends.  If you are caring for someone, or if you have children, double the list. Into this maze, we have added another layer of busyness called ‘church’.  It is unfortunate when church, a place where people are renewed in God’s presence, becomes another thing on the ‘to do’ list.

If you identify your life with the above-mentioned, I invite you to a moment of pause.  Even though our pace of life has changed, the needs of our soul haven’t changed. God’s desire to receive love and praises from us hasn’t changed.  Our availability for being transformed into the likeness of Jesus hasn’t changed.  We are running faster than God wants us to run.  We are pacing our life at a speed where we have created a firewall preventing genuine koinonia with God.  Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  He did not say, “I have come that they may have life in all its busyness.”  Life in abundance is the life Christ gives, which has more to do with a deeper level of significance as we spend time with God, rather than simply a larger range of activities. Therefore, busyness becomes self-centered, an enemy of spirituality, and essentially an assault against God, who created time for our joy in fellowship with Him and for His glory.

If Jesus needed to withdraw from the crowds and pray in solitary places, so do we. When it comes to devoting time to God, it has to be intentional. God normally doesn’t come crashing into our busyness unless He wants to get our attention.  We have to choose Him.  We have to sit down, put away everything else, including our phones, and turn our gaze upon Him.  Invite Him into our irritations, our busyness, hurts, and hypocrisies.  Start praising Him for who He is and tell Him how much you love Him.

Remember, God is not busy like you; He has all the time in eternity to talk to you. He wants you to be still and know that He is God. He wants you to move at His pace so that He can walk and talk alongside you, within you, and you can rest in Him.

Be encouraged,
Mathews