Emotions - Week 3

STORY - Getting lost in a blizzard

When we go about our day - we may start on track spiritually. But as the day, or week goes by - we can lose our way. Even if we start off the day in prayer and bible, or end of every evening in silence and solitude.

Something still gets in the way.

We need to realize that:

God has specific rhythms in life he wants us to follow

The thing that gets in the way is the rhythm we’ve given ourselves.

Get up, go to work. Full work week. Weekend spent recovering enough to go back to work. Vacation for 2 weeks, just so that we don’t hate our jobs.

Luke 10:38–42 NIV

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

This would be a VERY frustrating conversation for a lot of people in the room.

But Jesus would have rather that the preparations went undone and someone connected with him.

God has a radically different set of priorities than we do

STORY - What it means to prioritize someone’s personal spiritual health over their productive work output.

God has different goals for us, different methods. He works in totally different ways.

Isaiah 55:8–9 NIV

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

But in a practical sense, we act like he does things our way. Using our methods. That he’s capitalistic, and just looks at productive output.

Here’s the thing. He CARES about us growing. He cares about us doing well. But he has a different set of priorities as to what those things are.

God primarily works to bring us closer to Him

When i’m with my kids. I always have in mind them growing as people. And i’m not there to be their friend, i’m there to be their parent. But they are MY kids.

I care so much about who they are, and how they turn out. But our relationship is defined by that deep connection. And nothing they do or become could ever make them not my children.

STORY - Parent who couldn’t wrap their heads around a God who loved them unconditionally but still worked on us to change and mould us.

We have this perspective of God that he’s this far off being, judging our actions, waiting to see if we can earn our way in.

He’s not that. He’s the loving father that wants to be with us and shape us into productive and healthy people.

But he’s also the ultimate father. He alone knows what actually makes us productive. and healthy.

There’s two big priorities we can focus on to build God’s sense of productivity and health, instead of ours.

Prioritize spiritual disciplines

I put more effort into my relationship with my wife than I do with literally every single other relationship I have. I want to show her, and other people, that she’s the most important relationship to me.

Prioritize spiritual disciplines. Especially ones that take us away from busy-ness, and slow us down a bit

Examples of spiritual disciplines

But here’s a second question. What does it look like to plan these times…first?

There’s nothing wrong with making sure it’s the first or last thing you do. But what about beyond that? Do our spiritual disciplines get what’s right, or just what’s left?

I’m good at knowing my own rhythm with work, and what times are good for what activities.

Learn your good times, and your bad times. Is night the best time to read? Are you awake and alert? Do you remember what you read?

Looking at your life, how you operate. Then say - God is going to get the best times, not just the leftovers.

Prioritize rest

Nothing says breaking our pre-set patterns like....literally breaking our pre-set patterns.

Sabbath is one of the biggest rhythms in life that God created. The sabbath is so important, it’s literally in the list of the 10 commandments.

Sabbath is about - stop YOUR rhythm, and pick up God’s. Spend time getting to know him, and enjoy him.

some people like to just shut in, read and listen to music. Some people like to go for a walk. Whatever helps you connect with and appreciate God more.

This can be scary, because lots of stuff can go undone. But here’s a secret - one day, you will die. And you will leave a lot of work undone. And the world will keep turning.

You are not defined by your output. You are defined as a child of God.

Prioritizing sabbath and other rests reminds us that God prioritizes our health and our time with Him over our productivity.

This can be such a freeing thing. Even when my kids do something wrong - I want to be with them. I think about them all the time. And it’s my goal that my kids know that I love them endlessly.

That creates relational and emotional health in them.

We can’t be TRULY healthy spiritually until we really value God and our time with him. That we look more forward to that than anything else.

Matthew 10:37 NIV

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.