Day Two "Structure"

We're caught in the captivity of activity - hoping frantically in every direction, tongues dragging and lungs panting. We're dog tired. God never meant for us to live frenzied lives. Back breaking schedules are not His idea. How can we, believers in Christ, restructure our lives and find a little refreshment?

- Beth Moore, Whispers of Hope, p. 37

I feel in limbo today. I know why. I have been away from my home to long. Have you ever been there? Well, I've been in Texas now for over a month. I love Texas, it is where I am from, where I can eat good food, where I can be with family. But, it's tumultuous living your life under other peoples whims and schedules 24/7. Though fun, visiting two sets of grandparents and 10 sets of aunts and uncles is exhausting. I should be back on my favorite couch at my home today, but circumstances have dictated otherwise. Now, it looks like I will be in Texas until at least Wednesday. How do I make the most of this situation? God is working in my life to show me what to do. If nothing else, I have the time to get used to blogging on a daily basis before I get back to the business that is daily living at home.

My inspiration from my elected mentor today comes from my grandmother's book shelf. I was captivated by the one purple book I could see on her shelf. Low and behold - it was by Beth Moore. So, the page flipping began. I was drawn to some underlinings by my grandmother. "Captivity of activity." I've heard this before, if I am not mistaken Beth talks about this situation in Breaking Free. It doesn't really matter where I have heard this before, all that matters is that God is giving me a direct order today. These last few days, I've been sitting with my planner trying to work on all that I need to accomplish when I get home. How can I get ahead with school work? What Bible studies will I lead? What sort of materials will I cover with the lady I will be mentoring? How many studies can I fit in my schedule? How can I reach out to new people so that they can become aware of God and passionate about Him? What will my office hours be? How can I work to make a website? And on, and on. At the top of this list? How can overcome being gone a week later than intended??? :O)

I see today through the wise words of my elected mentor, God is sparing me from the captivity of activity. I'm setting up a schedule that is back breaking and labor intensive. Is that God's best for me? No. It isn't. Thankfully, this article God helped me to discover on the shelves of my current living quarters gives me advice on how to restructure my planner:

Beth recommends:

1. Reestablish the goal (I am to remember that my purpose in this brief journey is to glorify God)
2. Redirect the focus (If I seek God first He will help me to discern His priorities through the work of the Holy Spirit)
3. Rethink your motivation (If I seek to please people instead of God, I will be in trouble quick!)
4. Rest in God's will

I physically can breathe a sigh of relief when God speaks to me so directly. I've been caught up today. Overwhelmed. Excited. Determined. I woke up with my running shoes on. But, God worked in my life today to help me realize that yesterday I should have picked up the fact that it isn't "Running with God" it is "Walking with God." So as I sit here, humbled. I'm thankful and hopeful that tomorrow I'll slow it down and try again. Here in Texas, I'm meant to rest. So, I better get to it while I have a few days to do so.

In the Bible today I was reminded to:

Be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left. Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

- Deuteronomy 5:32-33

My action plan should be thus: focus on God's instruction and be attuned to that which He would have me to do. I need to put aside my own goals and work to achieve God's. I like what Oswald Chambers says about this:

The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am bought into relationship with God, I am in the condition isaiah was in. Isaiah's soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.

Maybe this year, I can be more like Isaiah.