I know. You read that title and thought “Tiff has lost it”.
But, stay with me.
Summer is here. The busy schedules have commenced and I haven’t stopped to breathe since…well, I guess now.
Work has been craziness. With over 20 trips going out this summer, training camps, debriefs, and all the other things that go into making our department run I have found myself exhausted.
Ready to drop. Drained. Worn out. Weary.
It’s a constant fight to keep your head above water and to continue swimming. You may know this feeling. Work, the kids, summer sports, moving, summer school, new job, new baby, baby on the way, and the list goes on…LIFE. It’s constantly moving at a pace most of us cannot keep up with. It’s basically like running with a Kenyan. NOT POSSIBLE.
As I was driving in my car, nearly in tears because of how overwhelmed I was, it hit me. And by “it” I mean, the Holy Spirit. He does that. Kinda smacks me in the face sometimes. With the camps, debriefs, wedding planning, traveling back and forth, discipling, serving and all the jazz I had totally pushed God so far on the back burner He is no longer even on the stove. Although I would never openly say this, my actions prove I think that I can do it without Him. I don’t need Jesus. How often do we find ourselves in that place where we are living out something completely contradictory to what we preach or even believe.
We spit out Christian clichés like a glass of spoiled milk.
“Jesus is all you need”
“Pray about it”
“The joy of the Lord is your strength”
“Give it to God”
And they continue…
However, is Jesus ALL we really need? Do we actually live our lives every day as if that statement is true? Or do we live as if we can do life without Him. I know I have been so guilty of this the past few months. So focused on ALL I have going on, that I haven’t “had time” to fit Him into my busy schedule. I put that in quotes because that’s what I tell myself. However, it’s far from the truth. It should say haven’t “made time”. That’s the real convicting part. I haven’t CREATED time in my schedule for the Source of my life. Subconsciously I have convinced myself I can do it by myself.
“Just push through”
“Hang in there”
“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel”
Or my personal favorite, “this too shall pass”
THESE are things we say in order to convince ourselves we can make it another week, month or semester. Be as it may, they utterly deny the Gospel.
“I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant)
fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”
– John 15:5
I like to personalize this verse, in the tiffany blount version it would read:
“Tiffany, stop trying to do it on your own. I am your Vine; you are JUST the branch. If you live in Me and stay connected to Me always, you will accomplish ALL I have called you to. However, you seem to think you can do it on your own. You can’t. Stop trying. You need Me.”
Now, we all know that the Lord is gracious beyond understanding and has more patience for me than I can even imagine. But you get the point.
Why do I even think I can do it without Him? I allow myself to get so busy that I nearly lose my breath cause I am so buried by all that I am trying to accomplish.
I am NOT as strong as I think I am.
I am weak.
I NEED Him.
It’s not that I want Him, I desperately NEED Him.
I won’t make it without Him.
This means we, and by we I really mean ME, need to learn to say NO. I know, it’s scary. But we have to fight to protect this time with the Lord, we are hopeless without it.
I think of it like this: you wouldn’t just let anyone cut open your chest and check out your heart would you? I know what you’re thinking…that’s insane and would never happen. But meditate on that a moment. Your heart is your source of life; when that thing stops pumping, you’re gone. You have a nice set of ribs to help protect it. If you’re heart was having trouble, you wouldn’t go to some shady doctor who got his certification online, would you? Heck no. You would be at the best heart hospital in the nation looking for the surgeon with the most experience.
We protect what’s important to us. We must learn to safeguard our time with the Lord.
He is the Source of our life. In His presence is PURE life, waiting to fill us to the brim everyday.
So if that’s you today, suffocating in your busyness and feeling spent, just come back to Him.
His arms are open with a love that cannot be overcome – even by our stress or busy schedule. He leads us with a gentle grace and infuses us with just enough strength for each situation.
Then, and only then, will we be able to achieve all the goals we are running after.
He welcomes us to trust Him in such a way that we can fall into perfect rest.
