Usually I find these winter months, meaning January and February, a great time in the year to slow down, refocus and of course hibernate, particularly after the chaos of Christmas with all it's events and celebrations.
But when I returned to work after the Christmas holidays it was incredibly busy. I had a number of upcoming meetings to prepare for and training sessions. The result being my mind was reeling with "work thoughts" invading my home time. If you work in any type of administrative role, you are usually multi-tasking to the max, arranging, preparing and making sure the wheels are well greased ahead of time so everything runs smoothly. So with all these things going on, I was feeling pretty distracted. I would sit down to spend some one-on-one time in prayer and I was soon moving back to "did I email so and so?" or "I have to photocopy that" or "I had better book those rooms." I think God has been patiently waiting for me to look him in the eye and say "you have my full attention!"
On the other hand, there are the desperate times. Desperate people are very focused. On one thing. They are not distracted. They are desperately listening and waiting for that one answer. They also can be pretty needy.
I've been in both sets of shoes. The funny thing about the distracted is sometimes, if God can't get your attention for any length of time, He will move you into a desperate mode, just so He can talk to you! Sometimes, you will move yourself there. "Help! I have too much going on!! I need some answers!! I'm desperate!"
On the flip side, I'm happy to say, God is never desperate or distracted. He never stops giving you his full attention, He never says "just a minute, I've got a few things going on right now."
He never says "I'm desperate for some answers myself!"
If you are desperate or distracted, you are swinging to the far side of the pendulum. Neither are a good place to be. It's time to balance out - somewhere in the middle where life is full and fulfilling but you can still find your center and refocus without feeling distracted and without feeling needy. I'm working towards that myself right now. As I'm definitely swinging on the distracted side I will purposefully leave work at work and take time to quiet myself and listen in the stillness to the voice of my Lord and Saviour.
So true Cindy....and depending on personality bents, I think we all tend to swing to one particular side of the pendulum.
ReplyDeletePraying you find that centre once again and are able to abide there. It is so much easier to accomplish the day to day tasks, when we do it form the place of balance.
Jen