Minding our Own Busyness - Two strategies for preventing a mental meltdown
There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Mary had a little lamb who longed to be a sheep, so she joined her local Bible Church and died from lack of sleep.”There is no denying that we are busy people.As busy people, we are also all too aware of the possible pressures that busyness presents to us. Have you ever felt burnt out?Have you ever been “just about to lose it?”What can we do to remedy this?The Bible presents two very powerful strategies to prevent a mental meltdown.
Strategy #1- Refuse to do it all yourself.
It is so hard to say no to things.I joke around with Jen sometimes by telling her that the message I want printed on my tombstone is “He should have said “NO”.We can be so afraid that people will think that we are lazy or uncaring that we sometimes tend to bite off more than we can chew regarding responsibility.
Moses had the same problem early in his career.In Exodus 18, Moses was trying to be the judge of the entire Hebrew people.After all, he is the one who knew the law…God spoke it directly to him.Moses was the only person specifically trained and equipped to act as a judge over Israel.Moses gave his father-in-law a tour of his own responsibilities.If Moses was anything like I am, he was probably looking for encouragement.“You are really important, Moses!”“Keep up the good work!” Notice Jethro’s gentle response to Moses’ expectant display: “The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone (Exodus 18:17-18).”Jethro basically said, “You are not doing the right thing because you are simply not able to do this yourself.If you keep this up, you are going to ruin it for everybody, including yourself.”
Great wisdom sometimes comes in the most discouraging forms.I’m sure that Moses didn’t want to hog all the credit…he was probably just passionate to be a faithful and effective leader.Jethro was right, though.To continue to do it all himself would negatively affect both him and the people.He had to learn how to “Let go and let people”.We would do well to heed the same advice, knowing that it is not always easy to let go of things you like to do, or things that you feel God has called you to do.This means that we have to not only let other people do it, but to let them do it the way they think it should be done.The result is better mental health for us and for the people we serve.
Strategy #2- Demand to take some things sitting down.
Mary and Martha were polar opposites in their attempts to honor the Lord when He visited them.In Luke 10:38-42, we see two drastically different approaches to honoring a guest.Martha wanted to honor her guest by frantically preparing and serving food.She hoped that Jesus would be honored by her busyness, and I am sure that to a point He was.Mary, on the other hand, sought to honor Jesus by sitting at His feet and hanging on his every word.She was hopeful that Jesus would look past her idleness in order to see a heart that just wanted to hear His word.Mary was right.
Have you ever been running around like a chicken with its head cut off while people who are supposed to help just took a break?If so, you may have responded like Martha did in verse 40, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."Jesus responded by saying, “Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42)."The point Jesus was making is that sometimes the best way to honor Him is to simply sit at His feet and listen.Jesus does not measure our faithfulness in terms of our busyness, but our devotion.
Do you demand time to sit at the feet of Jesus, or do you let life’s busyness crowd out your devotion time with Him?It is not always easy to make these boundaries, and my prayer for all of us is that we know when to frantically work and when to sit and just relax and pray.
I’m Leavin’ on a Jet Plane…..
I can’t help but chuckle when I realize that I am writing this article just before leaving for a week to go to a Pastor’s conference in California.Out of the abundance of the heart the fingers type (to paraphrase)!I am really looking forward to this break.I see a lot of myself in Moses and Martha.However, I hope you all know that I love serving the Lord in serving you, and that in “getting away,” I hope to more effectively and efficiently serve you and lead you to a greater love for Jesus.
Yours for His Glory,
Dom
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