The current of life seems to be flowing at a very fast speed. I shared with someone the other day that I feel like I’m standing on the platform of a subway station and life is zooming by me. I know that I am to be in this flow in some way but how do I do this and stay healthy? There are two streams flowing constantly that offer a current. The world and it’s various systems have much to offer us. When we get carried away with the different arenas of life, we can quickly feel depleted and drained. As I talked about in my last blog, Preparing for Spring, some things that I am involved in just aren’t bearing any fruit in my life.
Jesus was teaching by a lake in Mark 4 and begins to share a parable of a sower. He described how seed was tossed on different ground. Some grew up to produce a crop, while others got choked out.
Vs. 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Vs.20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop- thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. (NIV)
When I am trying to keep up with what the world says is important and valuable, I can find myself not only drained of energy, time and even resources, but also dissatisfied with the results. It is challenging keeping up with the responsibilities of relationships, jobs, and other activities while maintaining a balance of growing in the spirit and bearing fruit that is full of life in every area! God has been teaching me for a while now about source. The definition of source is a place, person, or things from which something comes or can be obtained. We can try to gain what we are looking for from this world and our own limited efforts as we swim in that stream or we can approach life from a different current altogether.
But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-17,22-23, ESV)
As we swim in the current of God’s spirit, we can approach life from a completely different source: love. Not love as simply an emotion, but the source and essence of love flowing from the heart of God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8, ESV)
Steps in Pursuit
1. The world current offers life and identity, but leaves us exhausted if we try to live up to it’s unrealistic expectations. Identify an area of life that leaves you feeling depleted and ask yourself, “Am I trying to achieve love and acceptance from this stream?”
2. Evaluate what fruit is being produced from the current in which you are flowing. Can you recognize the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 in your job, marriage, parenting, friendships, etc.?
3. Replenish by spending just a few minutes each day, soaking in the stream of God’s deep love for you.
As we learn to flow in God’s loving current, it will become more clear what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to in our daily lives. We are going to dig deeper into some healthy boundaries next time we chat. Until then friends…
Continue the pursuit,
Denise
