So my son Brian, he has been begging me to get inflatables. I hate inflatables. It's not happening. He also knows that I hold a firm "one holiday at a time" stance, and He's trying to use it in his quest for inflatables by suggesting the inflatable with a turkey sitting on Santa with the caption, "Move Over Fat Boy; It's Not Your Turn".
Brian loves Christmas, but he is literally like the police at our house. He has taken that "one holiday at a time" and turned it into law. No Christmas music, no decorations, nothing until the morning after Thanksgiving, and then he is blaring Feliz Navidad at 7 am at full volume while decorating his room with an elf he made when he was 10. When I laughed at him he said, "What, it's time?".
As crazy as he is; he's not wrong. When things are too much, too fast; without distinction the meaning starts to fade. Running from one thing to the next leaves us out of breath and on empty. So, I am adopting Brian's attitude. I am slowing my focus to one thing at a time. That is how God wants us to tackle life, not just the holidays. It's so easy to let our minutes run together into one huge tidal wave, but I am choosing to slow the tide by focusing on the moment I am in right now.
So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matt. 6:34
Moments are manageable taken one at a time. This verse doesn't mean to pretend there will be no trouble, it simple advises that we focus on the present because that is the only place to spend our energy and not waste it.
I encourage you to read this verse in context, Jesus is reminding us that God takes care of all the things, when we seek Him first. As I surrender one thing at a time, God takes care of one thing at a time. That surrender is needed, seeking God for an answer is needed, not for God, but for me. It's necessary for my heart to recognize Him, to really see Him work inside my circumstances. It opens my eyes to my inability to control all the things, which is painful, but it widens my view of what God can and will do for me which is priceless.
So my goal, my advice in the busy is surrender. In the overwhelm of the holidays, then end of the year, and the beginning of the new one: One thing at a time. Just one.
Lay out in detailed prayer what has you anxious, specifically and one at a time. Open eyes wide to see what God will do today, and then take one step at a time.
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. Philippians 4:6&7 Message
One thing at a time, shape those worries into prayers, and then let peace settle your heart.
Father, don't let me miss minutes of peace that you designed for me today because I am looking too far into tomorrow. Help me fix my gaze on You and remember that You've got the plans; You are working things together for my good, one thing at a time. One day, one step, one minute at a time, and Your presence is available in all of them. You are the constant.
Comments