Sunday, May 22, 2016

Find Yourself In Him

This week's encouragement:

Find yourself in Him!

As long as this school year appeared to be, it is now rapidly coming to a close.  Final exams are being prepared, textbooks are being collected, bulletin boards are coming down.
File cabinets are being cleaned out, computers are being inventoried and everyone is getting ready to close School Year 2016.

Within the enormous amount of tasks that must be juggled to do our jobs, whether we're in education, medicine, law, or at home managing our families, it is super easy to get lost in the details.  We don't intend to, in fact we are determined not to.  However, it is almost inevitable.  The weight of it all quickly increases and before we can even stop it, we're already lost in it, and we can't seem to get out of it.

The kids call, "Mom!"  The husband calls, "Honey!"  Our co-workers, phone calls, strangers, neighbors, they're all calling our name, needing something from us. In my case, add 45 middle schoolers calling out, "Mrs. Reyes!"  So many people needing from us, and we must solve their problems and save them.

Who saves us?


Have you ever randomly put files away?  Some women, honestly, probably never, or rarely, but I have.  In a hurry, I just shove papers in a drawer to get them out of sight.  Inevitably, I'll need something from that pile.  My random placement later causes me much frustration when I can't find a much needed document that was in that pile.  It's lost as far as I'm concerned because I don't know where I put it.  

Sometimes, I do the same thing with my priorities. I randomly put them away and pay for it later. I know God's first, of course He's first, but not always.  
I know I'm in the top 5, my husband is too,  'uh not always.  What ends up becoming first are my kids, my job and my extended, mistaken, emotional commitments.   

This is what I'm learning, when I am lost in the demands of all of my life roles, and I feel as if my self is disconnecting from myself.  It means that somehow, someway, my priority list got re-shuffled without my intention.  

 If Christ practically holds another number, other than one, in our priority lists we are setting ourselves to be found in chaos.  For He is the fountain of truth, and He is our direction, and He is our source, and He is our joy, and He is our sustenance.  Without Him in first place, what are we giving? What are we imparting?  What are we offering ourselves and those we love?  

I know, 
I've been there 
and find myself there more often than I'd like to admit.

So, I have made an executive life decision to update a "working towards" priority list. Categories are the same; numbers have shifted.

1.  
God
2.  
Myself
3.
My Husband
4.  
My Children
5.  
Extended family
6. 
Callings, responsibilities upon my life and service to others
7. 
Activities, hobbies, and projects that bring joy and satisfaction and help me grow
8.
Mentors, friends, and others
9.
Everything else

  When the numbers gets shuffled by the pressures that be, and they do (and will!), I try to put myself back in order with the help of the Lord.  The moral of the story and the goal is not to be perfect, heavens no!  No one is.  But, how can we work towards living a life that will enable the peace and the joy and the rest we so desperately seek to shine through? 

To be found in Him first.

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