Multi-tasking in Your Head
A Mini-Minute with Pam: Multi-tasking in Your Head
How do you get from a sigh to a song?
Do you have trouble resting and just being with God with no agenda? He knows we need that. Are you multi-tasking in your head, like I was? Constantly ruminating about all you must do. Trying to figure out every angle so you don’t miss anything. Wanting to measure up. Trying to do so much for the Lord. I’ve spent years. Dumping lots of money. Hiring experts. Looking for someone to help me find God’s plan for my life. Many coaches. Many classes. Seminars. Counselors. Teachers. All different, but they all claimed they had the answer for me. I believed them. More thinking and doing.The only problem was, it was one size fits all. All of this “naval gazing” only produced more frustration.
I never measured up to the expectations
It only led to frustration. The Ministry Insight Leading From Your Strengths assessment actually began the journey to sanity and a degree of peace. It was a good place for me to start. (I’ve actually written a trilogy about discovering personality strengths, embracing them, and living them out in your day-to-day.) We are all different by God’s design. Embracing that is the first step to leave the SIGH behind) But something was still missing. I knew God was not surprised at my despair. I knew He was not angry with me. I knew He would show me the way sooner or later. The problem is, I didn’t measure up to expectations. And like you, I wanted “SOONER” rather than “LATER”.
None of the experts gave me the peace I longed for.
I could not find someone who would simply listen to me without trying to fix me. Kinda like Job’s friends. I know God sees me. God hears me. God cares. So, what was wrong with me? Have you ever felt that way? I read a book about Oswald Chambers. He claimed to know the SECRET. And you know what? He DID! He discovered the secret; but only after years of searching, disappointments, and isolation with his family while serving the Lord in China.
The sigh MUST come before the song.
God has a process. We must die to our own plan before He can raise us into His destiny for us. So, all of this struggling is actually part of His plan toward our maturity in the Lord. The Psalms are a great example. Most if not all Psalms begin with the sigh. The sadness. The loneliness. The searching for significance. Talking honestly to God. And by the end of the Psalm, there is usually breakthrough. My guess is that each Psalm could have taken months or perhaps years to compose. Because the discovery definitely takes time. Focused time.
Can a person actually bring that peace to another?
No, they can’t. Only God can. But first, God wants us to hear ourselves telling Him in detail what we believe the problem is. Confessing our unbelief, despair, fear, anger, or whatever emotion we are feeling. If you don’t feel like talking to Him about it, then tell Him that, too. He already knows anyway, right? Of course that is right. God knows everything. So, first I had to learn to be honest with God and with myself.
Israelites vs Joshua & Caleb
Which do you want to be? Spies went into the Promised Land. They all saw the problems. Most SIGHED and feared the size of the giants. They saw it as Giants vs the Israelite people. They saw no way of winning. But, Joshua and Caleb saw it as Giants vs God ! They saw the problem of the Giants, too. But they didn’t stay in the problem space. Rather, they knew their God was more powerful than any enemy. More powerful than any giants. In a sense, they were SINGING God’s praises of possibilities. They saw no way of losing. Which group do you fall into on most days? Be honest with yourself. Be honest with God. He already knows anyway. He just wants to know that WE know that He is BIGGER than any problem we face.
The right path
Little did I know that this entire process was the right path all along. Little did I know that God would lead me to discover the same secret as Oswald Chambers. Was it difficult? Yes. Was it lonely at times? Yes. And it still is sometimes. Not God AND (something or someone else)…But…Realizing that we all have a God-sized vacuum and only when we allow God and only God to totally fill it up to the brim, do we find the SECRET that Oswald Chambers discovered…that God has creatively been telling us all along, in various ways. The secret?
I AM
God is actually saying to us, “Everything that you are NOT, I AM! “ Everything! Absolutely everything!
There is just one more important thing I need to mention: Only if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and if you have a personal relationship with Him, can you live like that.
Do I believe that? YES! Do you? If not, would you like to? It is a choice only you can make.
All are invited to come into relationship with Jesus but sadly, not all do.
Until next time…
Awaiting His shout,
Author/Blogger
Living from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com
