The Pressure to Simplify
Simplifying is all the rage these days. The world around us says that if we just simplify, we will finally have it all together. There are countless blogs and books about how to simplify your home and life. There are even people who are able to make a career out of being “professional organizers.”
These people have some great ideas, and I have taken their advice plenty of times! They are definitely onto something. When we don’t make some effort to keep our lives simplified, we are unprepared and end up flying by the seat of our pants. When that happens, most of our energy is spent making countless small decisions throughout the day. What should I have for breakfast? What should I wear? Which way should I go to work? How should I reply to that email? What are we doing this weekend? How should I spend my free time today? How should I deal with that ugly text? Should I subscribe to that blog? Should I try that new brand of protein shake that people are raving about? Maybe that brand of running shoes will help me.
The list goes on and on. We have more choices than we know what to do with. The world around us gives us many-faceted advice. If we just schedule more carefully, and maybe use that new app. If we just work a little smarter. If we just got rid of clutter in our home. If we just persevered in healthy eating and exercise.
It is really confusing, because many of these suggestions are not “bad” things. So, how do we choose? How do we simplify our lives?
First Step: Set Your Heart
Fortunately, as followers of Jesus, do not have to live as the world does. We do not have to depend on its wisdom. God tells us that simplifying starts by putting our relationship and connection with Him first.
We must set our hearts to seek the Lord.
Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor, did not set his heart to seek the Lord. He set his heart on power, and being well-thought of, even feared. He lost the kingdom because of his misplaced priorities.
“He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.” 2 Chronicles 12:14
We can so easily be deceived into thinking that we are living to please God but not have our hearts set on Him. My pastor says it this way: “If you do not intentionally nurture the discipline of seeking the LORD, then your heart will settle on and seek something else.”
Um, does this scare you like it scared me? When I read the story of Rehoboam, the first thing I notice is that his decision not to set his heart to seek the Lord led an entire nation to destruction.
This really hit me because I realized anew that my daily choices do not just affect me. They impact my kids, my husband, my family, my church, my community, and anyone with whom I come into contact who doesn’t know Jesus.
So I took some time and thought and prayed over this question: What am I really, really setting my heart on? I realized quickly that my heart was not set on God. It was set on other seemingly “Christian” things, like being a well-grounded mom, being a wife who is truly a helpmeet, being a faithful friend, and (ugh)…even being what others would define as “a good Christian.”
These aren’t bad things, right? No, not in and of themselves (except that last one!). But they are not God, and He makes it very clear that anything, anything that I put ahead of Him is an idol, even if it is a good, seemingly Christian thing. This can be hard to see in an age when our “idols” are not made of wood and stone, but appearance and reputation.
Second Step: Follow the First Step
As hard as this truth was to hear, it was also a tremendous relief, because it automatically simplified things for me like nothing else ever had. God first, and everyone and everything after Him. He is the lens through which I see everyone and everything else.
God simplifies FOR us, if we stay close to Him. He is not surprised by this Facebooking, Twittering, smart phone world that we live in, just like He was not surprised by the idolatry that surrounded Daniel. As it was in Daniel’s time, staying close to Him is the only way to navigate through it.
If you climbed Mount Everest, obviously you would do plenty of research and hopefully a lot of physical training in preparation. But even with all your hard work and preparation, you would still hire a guide to actually go with you.
That’s how this world is.
We walk a treacherous path with an enemy out to get us, temptation at every turn. BUT, we also have the Holy Spirit living in deepest, truest part of us, and this knowledge greatly outweighs all of these other factors combined! He is our every day, every moment Guide.
He leads me, in different ways, through the decisions that have the potential to steal all the energy He has provided me on a given day. As I “stay low and stay close” (as Sylvia Gunter says), I hear His still, small voice lead the way through the many twists and turns of my day:
*Spend time with this friend*
*Do your work in one-two hour increments*
*Yes, that job is my will for you*
*Just be quiet right now while your husband talks. Your advice is not really what he needs*
*Call your friend. Right now*
*Pray for your sister. Right now*
*Sit with Me, quietly. Refuse to check email. Make a decision not to look at the calendar or check your texts before you sit down with Me*
*It’s okay. I know you didn’t have time to be with Me this morning. I knew before you woke up what this day held. I am all that you need*
*Just hug her right now. Discipline is not what she needs*
As always, I fail to listen. More than I would like to admit. But God tells me, and you, that He is not interested in perfection. He is interested in perseverance. When I fail, His forgiveness is enough. What if Peter decided that his failure in denying Christ three times was just too much to come back from? No. We must get up and try again. Every step of obedience makes His voice more clear.
Stay low and stay close. The world we live in bombards us with messages that say to do just what makes us feel good, spend time on what we like, to follow our heart. But the world’s ways are the enemy’s ways, and as good as they may look and as deceptively close to God’s ways as they may seem, they are nothing but a cheap imitation of the Real Thing. We don’t know our own hearts, and we cannot. But God does. God knows what we need way better than we do, because He created us.
God leads us away from the good, to the BEST.
PRAYER:
Father, please help us to really, really set our hearts on You. If they are not set on you, but on other seemingly “noble” things, will You give us the courage to face this and confess and repent of it? Bind our wandering hearts to Thee. Help us to live for Your Kingdom, and not our own. We praise You today, Father, that it is You who works and wills in us!
