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We are losing our rhythm. You can feel it with some people. They are going and going and there is no pause, no break, and certainly no stop. Yet, that was not the way we were made. We were made to experience rhythm. Work for six days and then no work on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the day God rested (Gen. 2:1-3). The Sabbath was the day in which the people of God would stop and remember again who God was and who they were (Ex. 20:8-11; Dt. 5:12-15).
How Fast Is Your Pace? (Which one of these best describes you?)
• Slow – “I’m almost asleep.â€
• Comfortable – “I’m living, but I have to be intentional about this.â€
• Very Fast – “I’m scrambling just to keep up.â€
• Insane – “Now what are the names of those people in my house?â€
When the pace is too fast – with too much going on, several things may suffer. There may be some fallout due to neglect and the lack of balance or rhythm in our lives.
• Our health
• Our relationships with God
• Our marriages
• Our relationships with our children, the extended family, etc.
• Our relationships with friends.
If you continue to live as you are presently living, what will be the condition in each of these areas in five to 10 years? I mentioned this to a class I taught last night. I find it very helpful to take a good look at where I am from week to week. Every December, I try to take a good, hard look at the previous year and the new year to come. Doing that gives life some rhythm. So many of us work very hard and into much activity with very little serious reflection on our lives. We are active and busy but some of us don’t give a lot of thought as to the meaning of this busyness.
Where do you begin? Begin small. Try reflecting on the week. How are your relationships this week? How has your walk with the Lord been? Is there something you wish you had done differently ?
Now look at the year. What has been on your mind this year? Really. What have you been obsessed with? Do you have secrets which you cultivated this year? What is the condition of your relationships? How is your walk with God? What evidence do you have that your relationship with God is growing?
Jim,
You have some good points here. This may not be the best place to ask this questioin, but I was wondering if some of the points you are making here about ryhthm and Sabbath had anything to do with the decision not to have church the Sunday morning of Christmas? Honestly, it bothers me that we aren’t having church Christmas morning because I feel it sends the wrong message about Christmas. But I assume there were good reasons behind that decision. Would you mind sharing those with us?
Jim,
Thank God for children who sometimes force us to see we are out of rythum! I have a daughter who sometimes on Friday will say, “Can we just stay in our pajamas tomorrow?” That’s when I know we have run too much in the preceding days/weeks. We are having one of those pajama days today. No, everything is not done for Christmas, but it will get done, it always does! Today we stay at home!
Carrie
SG
The relfections in this post came out of the wednesday evening class I am teaching on marriage/family. They have nothing to do with the decision you are refering to.
(For those of you who are not aware of what she is refering to, our elder group decided topostpone our assembly on Christmas day from our normal start time of 10:00 AM to 5::00 PM PM). I was not a part of that discussion or decision so I would encourage you to ask them for reasons etc. For me to respond would be just speculation and probably wouldn’t shed much light at this point.
Carrie,
What a good observation! It is interesting how our children (and others on occasion) will give us clues that our lives have gotten way out of rhythm. I wonder how many of these clues we (I) have missed?