by David Scott Robertson
I need “divine order” in my life!
My desk in my home office is a mess.
My desk at my church office is a mess.
My car is dirty, inside and out (and it’s time for an oil change and my tires are under inflated.)
My to-do list has swollen to intimidating proportions.
I have voicemails to listen to; emails to read and people waiting for a response.
I need a haircut.
The gecko needs more live crickets to survive another week.
It’s time for the grass to be cut for the first time of the year.
And get this – even my sacred place of morning devotions has been affected (or infected, either word is appropriate) by my desperate cry for divine order. Next to my worn out Lazy Boy rocking chair is a small table whose contents include:
- My Bible (that I try to read every day)
- Two daily devotionals
- Two really good books I started but never finished
- Three really good books I need to read but never started
- Two magazines that I got in the mail that I want to read an article from but don’t have time.
- One forty-day prayer journey to Palm Sunday
This small table, I think, about sums up my life right now!
So, here I sit this morning, on my one day off from work per week, and I just got up and already I’m overwhelmed! It’s amazing! I slept late this morning because it’s the one day I can sleep late and now I’m feeling bad that I slept late because I’ve got so much to do that I should have gotten an earlier start!
I’m sure there are some of you who are reading this that have an understanding of what I’m talking about!
What if I had 6 children (I only have one)? What if I was severely handicapped? What if I was unemployed? What if…? Things could be so much worse but, O God forgive me, I’m struggling now when things are pretty decent in my life!
What am I going to do?
How can I cope with this crazy lifestyle?
How can I get off this wheel of frustration?
How can I exit this highway of pressure and stress?
How can I begin to walk in alignment and balance in my life?
How can I simplify my life and still be productive and effective?
Bottom line: Is it even possible to live as a 21-century American Christian in “divine order”?
For the first time in a long time I can better appreciate the exasperated conclusion that the Apostle Paul’s came to and conveyed in his letter to the church at Rome:
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)
And the next verse is my deliverance. It is the answer. It is the positive affirmation that life as a 21st century American Christian is not only survivable but divine order is literally possible:
“Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a)
Jesus is greater than culture!
Jesus is Lord over time management!
Jesus is the Way (John 14:6) – the way out of my desert experience.
Jesus, by His Holy Spirit, will lead me and guide me off the path of hyper-activity!
Jesus can transform me from a Martha to a Mary!
Jesus can help me enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4)!
Jesus is willing to exchange burdens with me – my self-made heavy yoke for his easy yoke and light burden.
Jesus hung on the cross for my complete and total victory over sin in this life.
Worry is sin.
Doubt is sin.
Prayerlessness is sin.
Much of what I do and dress up in spiritual language and religious activity is sin.
So today I repent of the sin that let the devil in to steal my joy, rob me of my times of intimacy with the Lord, and for taking my eyes off the one who has offered to me perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).
Today I bring the Lord the water of my puny efforts, and I believe He will turn it into wine that refreshes others.
Today I will bring the Lord a few loaves and fishes of what little time I have to get personal things done, and He will multiply my time to get my priorities straight and actually take a “day off.”
Today I will roll the stone covering the grave where I am trying to bury all my frustration, aggravation, and stress and He will raise me up to newness of life, alive in Christ, and free to walk about it freedom.
God’s Word to me – and to you today is – “loose him and let him go!”
Today, by faith, I will walk in “divine order” because “thanks be to God, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength! (Philippians 4:11-13).
DSR
3/18/06