I might be a little too busy.
I spill my coffee..a lot.
I have a problem with fear.
I PROMISE those three facts about the life of Sara are not completely random. In fact, they all connect to each other like a giant circle..
I might be a little too busy.
I'm basically insane. I live the life of someone who is crazy enough to fill every spare hour with meetings, coffee dates, and responsibilities. It is a good day when I have at least 2 straight hours of free time...and those hours are either filled with homework or sleep.
But here is the even crazier part of it... I thoroughly enjoy every second of it. There are hardly ever any nights when I collapse (literally) into bed and think, "When will it end?" I love every filled slot on my schedule. I love that God has given me such an awesome opportunity to use my skills and passions to grow me..and to use me to help grow others. I love that my days are spent investing in others and being invested in by others.
But here is the tricky part of living this type of life... I forgot to breathe. I thrive under pressure, so I intentionally and unintentionally put myself under the pressure of time and responsibility. I forget to be still for a even just a moment.
When I forget to breathe, I become overwhelmed.
And when I become overwhelmed...
I spill my coffee..a lot.
This past week, I was listening to a friend talk about life and the reality of becoming overwhelmed with everything. He explained it to me using an analogy that featured me as the illustration:
I really like to drink coffee..I'm pretty sure you all knew that already.. Anyway, I often make myself a mug of coffee after I finish my meals in the cafeteria. No problem, right? Wrong.
The actual task of transferring the coffee from the drink station all the way to the table that I often sit at (which happens to be in the back of the cafeteria) is not an easy feat for me. It is easily one of my most frustrating failures. I am an artist...I have an extremely steady hand....yet I cannot keep my hand steady enough to carry my coffee to my table without a single spill.
If I am lucky enough to have a steady momentum, the coffee stays still in my cup and I do not spill. But, quite often, I do not have a steady momentum. So, the choppy momentum causes my coffee to continually splash out of my mug.
Once I got over the initial embarrassment of realizing that people actually notice and remember this comical situation I too often find myself in, I began to think about how accurate his analogy is.
Life quickly becomes overwhelming. Momentum picks up, and soon I find myself spilling out over the sides...and I do not know how to get it to slow down. It just keeps spilling out.
But, if I really think about it, I realize I do know how to make it stop spilling. I just have to change the momentum. I have to refocus on the task.
So, I stop walking for a second, focus my attention on allowing the coffee to settle, then I begin walking again. But I have to intentionally choose to refocus.
In the area of becoming overwhelmed, when I stop and refocus, it means I must stop focussing on my own abilities and fears. Because I have found that...
I have a problem with fear.
I become overwhelmed because I rely on my own strength and then become very afraid. I become fearful that I do not have the qualifications, abilities, and strengths to accomplish all that is being asked of me. I create expectations for myself that I cannot even meet, and I become fearful. I am afraid of letting people down. I am afraid of failure. I am afraid of not being perfect. I am so very afraid of not being good enough. Therefore, I quickly become overwhelmed and continue to splash out of my coffee mug.
But the beauty of the gospel and of grace is that I do not have to be enough....because Christ is enough.
Paul David Tripp states in his devotional, New Morning Mercies, that..
I spill my coffee..a lot.
I have a problem with fear.
I PROMISE those three facts about the life of Sara are not completely random. In fact, they all connect to each other like a giant circle..
I might be a little too busy.
I'm basically insane. I live the life of someone who is crazy enough to fill every spare hour with meetings, coffee dates, and responsibilities. It is a good day when I have at least 2 straight hours of free time...and those hours are either filled with homework or sleep.
But here is the even crazier part of it... I thoroughly enjoy every second of it. There are hardly ever any nights when I collapse (literally) into bed and think, "When will it end?" I love every filled slot on my schedule. I love that God has given me such an awesome opportunity to use my skills and passions to grow me..and to use me to help grow others. I love that my days are spent investing in others and being invested in by others.
But here is the tricky part of living this type of life... I forgot to breathe. I thrive under pressure, so I intentionally and unintentionally put myself under the pressure of time and responsibility. I forget to be still for a even just a moment.
When I forget to breathe, I become overwhelmed.
And when I become overwhelmed...
I spill my coffee..a lot.
This past week, I was listening to a friend talk about life and the reality of becoming overwhelmed with everything. He explained it to me using an analogy that featured me as the illustration:
I really like to drink coffee..I'm pretty sure you all knew that already.. Anyway, I often make myself a mug of coffee after I finish my meals in the cafeteria. No problem, right? Wrong.
The actual task of transferring the coffee from the drink station all the way to the table that I often sit at (which happens to be in the back of the cafeteria) is not an easy feat for me. It is easily one of my most frustrating failures. I am an artist...I have an extremely steady hand....yet I cannot keep my hand steady enough to carry my coffee to my table without a single spill.
If I am lucky enough to have a steady momentum, the coffee stays still in my cup and I do not spill. But, quite often, I do not have a steady momentum. So, the choppy momentum causes my coffee to continually splash out of my mug.
Once I got over the initial embarrassment of realizing that people actually notice and remember this comical situation I too often find myself in, I began to think about how accurate his analogy is.
Life quickly becomes overwhelming. Momentum picks up, and soon I find myself spilling out over the sides...and I do not know how to get it to slow down. It just keeps spilling out.
But, if I really think about it, I realize I do know how to make it stop spilling. I just have to change the momentum. I have to refocus on the task.
So, I stop walking for a second, focus my attention on allowing the coffee to settle, then I begin walking again. But I have to intentionally choose to refocus.
In the area of becoming overwhelmed, when I stop and refocus, it means I must stop focussing on my own abilities and fears. Because I have found that...
I have a problem with fear.
I become overwhelmed because I rely on my own strength and then become very afraid. I become fearful that I do not have the qualifications, abilities, and strengths to accomplish all that is being asked of me. I create expectations for myself that I cannot even meet, and I become fearful. I am afraid of letting people down. I am afraid of failure. I am afraid of not being perfect. I am so very afraid of not being good enough. Therefore, I quickly become overwhelmed and continue to splash out of my coffee mug.
But the beauty of the gospel and of grace is that I do not have to be enough....because Christ is enough.
Paul David Tripp states in his devotional, New Morning Mercies, that..
"You are not left to your own resources. Because you are 'in Christ,' your potential is greater than the sum of your parts. You are never in any situation or location by yourself.... So, the work of Jesus on your behalf must be the window through which you look at everything in your life. Don't give way to the fear of inability when the work of Jesus has supplied you with everything you need."
Because of what Christ has done on the cross, he has made me new. I now have the Holy Spirit inside me, I have a new identity, and I have a new purpose. I am given more and more grace each day. That grace is sufficient for me, because He uses my weaknesses to display His strengths.
When I stop focussing on my fears of my inabilities, I begin to know that He is God. I focus on His grace, His strength, His plan, His power in me. I focus on the fact that it is all about Him. I realize that I can do it all with joy because He is enough.
It is like when Peter stepped out of the boat onto the crashing waves. While He focused solely on Christ, he walked on the water...but when he began to focus the waves crashing around him, he lost sight of Christ and began to drown in the overwhelming sea.
In order to know that He is God, I need to be still. I need to let the coffee settle. I need to know that He is God and that He has supplied me with everything I need to live a life filled with grace and void of fear.
When I stop focussing on my fears of my inabilities, I begin to know that He is God. I focus on His grace, His strength, His plan, His power in me. I focus on the fact that it is all about Him. I realize that I can do it all with joy because He is enough.
It is like when Peter stepped out of the boat onto the crashing waves. While He focused solely on Christ, he walked on the water...but when he began to focus the waves crashing around him, he lost sight of Christ and began to drown in the overwhelming sea.
In order to know that He is God, I need to be still. I need to let the coffee settle. I need to know that He is God and that He has supplied me with everything I need to live a life filled with grace and void of fear.
The cycle is now back to being still. Being still for me means finding rest and refreshment in the Word of God. It means allowing Him to speak to me through His Word. It means I listen as He reveals who He is to me. It means I set aside time each day to refocus, allow the coffee to settle, and to know that He is God. I have to make this choice.
Dear friend, I challenge you to stop. Be still...let the coffee settle...and know that He is God.
It is a choice we must make everyday.
Dear friend, I challenge you to stop. Be still...let the coffee settle...and know that He is God.
It is a choice we must make everyday.