Busyness

I've always enjoyed being busy. I like to take on projects that make me feel needed and useful. Too often though, the busyness becomes overwhelming and I feel like I'm drowning. My friend Rachel from church lent me a book called Running on Empty: Contemplative Spirituality for Overachievers.  I Only 5 pages in and already I felt convicted; knowing that I need to let go of some things in order to have a more fulfilling relationship with the Lord. I need to learn to be still as Psalm 46:1 says- Be still and know that I am God."

Here are some quotes form the book that have helped me to put things in perspective...

P. 5- "I had perfected busyness but failed miserably at stillness"
P. 20- "the noise, busyness and hurry deliver nothing but a heart that's hard of hearing and a life of anxious longing, and weary disappointment."
P. 47- "with my mind, I can reason that God's love is true. But in day to day life, experiencing that God's love for the single thing that establishes, governs and maintains my personal worth is my greatest struggle...I must recognize that being 'the apple of God's eye' is not merely a nice idea, a worthy goal, or an inspirational thought. It's the one and only name by which God recognizes me and intends to relate to me. This kind of truth must make it's way into my heart if I'm to live in any meaningful and lasting degree of freedom."
P. 87- "Discipline means being intentional about preventing everything in my life from being filled up. The diligent watchfulness guards my soul from intrusions that crowd out God."
P. 96- "It's essential that I understand the health of my relationship with God is ultimately God's responsibility. My responsibility is providing space for solitute and silence so that God may attend to the needs of my soul. I'm just the innkeeper making room for the Guest."
P. 176- " Only when I'm listening to God's voice, and not my own, am I set free from having to prove to the world (or to myself) that I am worth loving, because God has already, repeatedly, affirmed his love for me."

Lord, help me to subtract all of the things out of my life that distract me from you. I want to serve you with my whole heart. Amen