Wake up. Check time.Check FB. Take shower. Change clothes. Have class. Post Insta. Eat food. See friends. Leave school. Have practice. More practice. Eat food. Watch TV. Check Twitter. Call friends. Get tired. Lay down. Check Twitter. Set alarm. Done.

That’s about the most abbreviated of a day that I could do, but it sounded exhausting right? (you probably just skimmed over that paragraph because it’s boring, but that’s kind of my point) I know you guys, you load up the whole day with tasks and goals and practices and social media and TV and friends and what are you left with? Well, I can tell you that you’re not left with any time for God. We hurry hurry hurry, running to our next destination, meanwhile we’ve ran past our whole life trying to get to it faster. Where does God fit into that? So let’s try this again (just for my sake). Wake up. Thank God for the day and ask Him to bless every action you take. Take a shower. Sing praises that God has provided you with more water than you could ever need. Go to school. Pray for those driving around you. Ask the person who parks beside you in the school parking lot how they are doing, how you can pray for them. Spend your day at school looking at people, not just looking through them as you head to your next task or class. Go home, pray again out loud for those around you. At practice(s), actively think on what God wants from you in this group, whose life can be affected by His presence (that’s a trick question, it’s all of their lives)…. I really could keep going here, but you see my point. God wants us to slow down, to rest in His presence. We don’t have to fit 5 bajillion things into our schedule to be a good Christian, we only need one thing: Christ. But with that being said, we can certainly have a busy day and fill that with Christ too. There is never never too little time for Christ to impact a life in a huge way. Remember that when you think things like:

“I know that (insert name) is struggling with (insert sin), but I don’t have time to talk right now.”

“I can never find time to pray, I’m just super busy!”

“I feel like God doesn’t really control this part of my life so I shouldn’t ask for His help.”

Spoiler alert: those are all bogus and lies from the devil. God provides us all that we could ever need. Last night Dan read from Psalm 23, here is part of it: The Lord is my shepherd;     I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows;     he leads me beside peaceful streams.     He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths,     bringing honor to his name. Look at the words He uses here: rest, peaceful, renews, guides…These are not words that are telling me to hurry up and get more things done. These are words that say “slow down, I will provide all that you need, don’t rely on yourself for things, put your trust in me” Guys, I need you to know how huge that is. Can we just slow down and let God handle it? I get this feeling when I have  bunch to do and it’s almost like I’m holding my breath: my body is tense, I move nervously, I’m stressed…but God says stop that. He will be all that we need, and on top of that He will bring us peace. He is our shepherd. He is our provider. He is the one who gives peace like a river, gently flowing. He calls us by name and leads us out into the world. He gives us purpose. He gives us a rich and satisfying life.

The enemy wants the opposite. He tells us we gain satisfaction from doing more things than we can handle. He tells us we will only be happy if we’re stressed from too much work. He tells us that we have no time for real intentional relationships with people. He says that we don’t need help from others and certainly not from God. The devil wants to fill us with pride and selfish ambition. I’m gonna be honest with y’all; this is something I definitely struggle with. I have this compulsion to fit more and more things into my day/schedule. Like if I’m not doing more, getting more accomplished, I am failing. This leads to a very unsatisfying cycle of do more, do more, feel stressed, mess something up, do less and feel bad, start to do more again… I’m here to tell everyone, myself included that we don’t need to do anything but search for God. He found me in my brokenness and sin and He loves me despite that. He can be there for you too. He already is in fact. Let Him be your shepherd. Let Him lead you to peace. Let Him show you eternal love. You just have to make time for HIm. Lord, give us time for You. Grant us the boldness to say that we need you more than anything else. Help us to see what life could be like where you are at the wheel. Take over our lives Father, show us peace like a river and love overflowing. Give us a supernatural peace and understanding of what you have done for us. Slow us down, make us see You and in turn show others to You. Guide us, love us. I love you. Amen. -TK