High Traffic [Devotional]

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything”

Psalms 46:10, The Message

 

One adjective that is constantly attributed to me is ‘busy’. I work two main jobs and several smaller ones, have a variety of hobbies and interests, a (surprisingly) vibrant social life filled with the most interesting and wonderful people, and a strong, happy marriage with one grown child and one that’s nearly there (if you ask me… ask her and you will get a totally different answer).  I also have a relationship with God that is growing stronger by the day.

Busy is good, especially by Western standards, and being productive and successful is good as well. But all too often I find myself busy, busy-busy…

An hour and a half at church (Amen) then DASH-

Back to the house where I sit for a couple of hours watching folks play video games (die a LOT!!) then DASH-

To this event that a friend has going on at this or that place then DASH-

I dash here and there, trying hard to fit it all in, but never quite taking it all in. Or sometimes none of it in.

What would happen if I took fewer commitments and sat down with the Holy Spirit gave prayerful consideration to the things covered on Sunday?

What would happen if I dedicated my time to encouraging and being encouraged by a few quality people instead of being simply known and generally liked by many?

What would happen if gave up the things that make me look ‘busy’ and ‘successful’ and became more of a fixture than a blur?

When we ‘step out of traffic’, when we stop running around and being busy (or trying to look busy) and look loving at God, we find that we want to slow down, spend time, and connect, not just with God, but with those in our lives as well. It only makes sense, considering we are made in His image and He desires nothing more than to be and connect with us.

For many of us, looking to God and slowing down would mean not looking as important, popular (which is something we still seek…even after high school), or successful as we want to be. But in God and through seeking Him we become what He wants us to be… and if we have the courage, this is worth much more than anything that we have to give up. It is above everything.

in the beginning and at the end [Devotional]

“Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal…Give thanks to the God of heaven; his love is eternal.”

 

Psalms 136:1, 26, English Good News Translation

 

 

These verses open and close Psalm 136. What comes in the middle is not covered here, because that is not the point of this piece. The point is that in the beginning and at the end, no matter how difficult, awkward, painful, or depressing the things are in the middle- all things being said- God is good and His love is eternal.

This is a thought that I easy to dismiss based simply how many times we have heard that.

“ow, god is good, chil’…”

God is good. But it is easy to forget that simply based on the things that he has allowed to happen.

“but why did this had to happen to me?”

But it does not dismiss that fact that God is good. His goodness is present in everything in nature. It is present in the beauty of the ocean, the awesome spectacle of a night sky full of stars, the horrific destructive power of the hurricane, and the ability of the human mind to create everything from chocolate the space shuttle.

It is present in the ability of kindness to sooth the pains that we come across, no matter if we are the giver or the receiver. It is present in the power of God that excels all thought that keeps us when all human understanding has failed us.

I want to trust what I can see. I say that I don’t trust good because I don’t trust Him. I blame God for the things that I have had to go through. But it is during those times that I forget about all the tiny, random, little things that bring me joy and peace. When I go through hell, I forget about all the people and things that God provides that truly comfort and instead rely on food, cigarettes, and shallow companions to ease the pain.

It is times like this when I have to remember that I see the past that was shaped by a friend that taught me about the real world and gave me the strength and the knowledge to live that world, one that was foreign after years in the [cult]Church. I see the girls who again and again gave me something to live for. I see all the wonders of the world in a search for myself. I see the Great Lesson that brought me down enough to be able to hear the Call and follow the Path, even as messed up as I am. I see the mentors and guides that have patiently helped me process my past.

I have gone through so much hell in this life that the one on the next life seems almost like a release. But I have also seen that God is good.

I don’t always believe it. And it sometimes takes me time to remember it, but that knowledge makes enough of a difference to keep me going.

Because God is good.

Thanks be the God.