Beam me up, Scotty!

Sometimes, I believe lies. 

I don't usually notice, until I am in the 'thick' of it, so to speak.

At some point, I realize that something is off. Something isn't right. What is it? Show me, Lord.

It is a lie. It is the lie that gets me almost every time -- "The Lie of Busyness". My friend calls it "The Gospel of Productivity" -- pretty good title, huh?  Maybe, she should be a writer...   

In my own life, the lie is revealed by thoughts like these:
-- Being busy means I am not being lazy; that's a good thing, right? I am accomplishing something!
-- If I think of something that needs to be done, I should do it. "Oh, look! The refrigerator has leftover splatter and food crumbs! I see it, so I should clean it...now."
-- I may not have a job outside the home, but (by golly) I work really hard in my home and for my family.
-- Etc.

In the beginning, the shift is almost imperceptible (at least to me).  I feel slightly harried, as if there wasn't enough time in the day.  I look at my watch -- a lot.  Then, I rehearse my routine, wondering where I could have 'lost' time.  Thoughts of what I 'should' have done or 'should' be doing creep in; "I need to learn Russian!  Fast!  I need to get on top of my e-mail!  I need to start meal planning again!  I need to find onion powder!"  Everything seems important, and everything seems to end in an exclamation point!  (Case in point.)  My grip on my schedule and tasks tighten.  Thankfulness and joy slip to the sidelines.  A sense of discouragment takes their place.

How did I get here - again?   

Now, perhaps, we could admit that busyness is not always good.  I bet we would even agree that being too busy can be detrimental... Even if we don't live like it.  But, would we ever say, "Productivity is ruining you!"  That seems profane, doesn't it?  The very fiber of my being rebels against such an idea.  My culture has always esteemed output.  The more you can do, the more capable you are, right? 

What a load.  It's the same old, nasty story - just prettied up for our modern sensiblities.  Before I think twice, I am measuring my worth and value by how much I accomplish or, in more plain terms, what I do.  Yuck.  I'm gonna call in sick tomorrow. 

Or, maybe not. 

An older, wiser woman makes her way toward me, Elisabeth Elliot - no less.  She marches right into my bedroom, where I lay cowering under the covers, and shakes me by the shoulders.  I bolted upright as I read her words. 

"The sum of our job here on earth is to glorify God.  This was the sum of Jesus's task as well.  How did He do it? {I would answer, 'Well, He IS God, Mrs. Elliot.'  But never mind me.} Shortly before He was crucified He said to His Father, 'I have glorified thee on earth by completeing the work which thou gavest me to do.'

There were endless demands on Jesus's time.  People pressed on Him with their needs so that He and His disciples had not leisure even to eat, and He would go away into the hills to pray and be alone.  At times the disciples came to Him with reproach because He was not available when needed.  There must have been, everywhere He went, those who wanted to be healed who could not get to Him because of the crowds, or learned to late that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, or who had no one to carry them to Him or to send to ask Him to come to them.  How many 'if only's' He must have left behind, how much more that He 'could have' done.  {Here, we must tread ever so lightly...} There must have been things, also, that Jesus Himself would have liked to do during those three packed years of His public ministry, but He was a man, with a man's limitations of time and space.  {Ala, Philippians 2: 5-7, my addition.}  Yet He took time to rest, withdrawing to the hills to pray alone and sometimes taking His disciples to lonely places where they were free of the crowds.  Still He was able to make that amazing claim.  'I have finished the work You gave me to do.' This was not the same as saying He had finished everything He could possibly think of to do or that He had done everything others had asked.  He made no claim to have done what He wanted to do.  The claim was that He had done what had been given.

This is an important clue for us.  The work of the God is appointed.  What was given to the Son to do was the will of the Father.  What is given to us to do is also His will. 

There is always enough time to do the will of God.  For that we can never say, 'I don't have time.'  When we find ourselves frantic and frustrated, harried and 'hassled', it is a sign that we are running on our own schedule, not on God's."

Thank you, Mrs. Elliot.  I needed a good once over. 

I rise up -- encouraged, thoughtful... and only slightly depressed (thinking, "Am I ever going to get this?!").

There I go again... 

But, I am stopped.  That lie won't play here - at least, not now.  Because, I have something way better.

I have a word.  I have TRUTH.

Dearest daughter,
"You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, 'You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you;
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Love,
Your (Heavenly) Papa
- Isaiah 41:9-10 

Now, THAT, I can rest in!  (Exclamation point!)