In 4 days my wife Megan and I leave for a service week at an
orphanage in Haiti. It will be hard to leave our three children behind with Grandma and Grandpa, but we anxiously await the
opportunity and anticipate what God will do in and through our group. As leader
of the team of 25, I am busy working out all the final details of the trip. Going
overseas can be fun, but it can also be stressful when you are responsible for the well-being of others. Four days after our return from Haiti we sell our home of 5
years in Bloomington and move to the other side of town. Our home is currently decorated
with packed boxes and empty walls. At work, I am wearing "two hats" as
we search for my replacement as Youth Pastor at E-Free and I gradually shift
into my newly created role of Serving Pastor. To say this June has been and will be busy
is an understatement!
This summer is busy, but life often seems to be this way.
There are always things to rush off to and get done. Work, Piano lessons,
baseball practice, doctor appointments, meetings, the list goes on and on. My
suspicion is that many of us are in a similar boat.
This morning I met with a great student leader in our church
who is carrying the heavy burden of being a teenager in 2013. As I prayed for
him on my way to the office after we met, I found God slowing me down. It was just a couple miles to the church from
the coffee shop, but it is peppered with a half dozen stop lights on the way. I
had so much to do today and what felt like so little time to get it all done.
As I arrived at each light, every one turned red just as I
approached. My anxious spirit wanted to hit the gas and make it through while they
were still “yellow,” but God spoke to my heart a little more loudly after each
one turned red. By light number 4 he had my attention.
“Slow down Bill. Fill yourself up. Find time for me in the
busyness of this day. Let me be the one who is at the center of all you do. Do
life with me, not just for me.” It was the exact lesson I shared with the
Senior High students two weeks earlier. It just took a while for me to hear it myself.
As I took a deep breath and let myself slow down, I felt the
Lord take a huge weight off my shoulders. My plate might be full, but He can provide
me with all I need to take care of all He gives me. What I can’t do is try to
accomplish it all on my own strength.
So today I thank God for red lights, because often when I take
a moment to stop and slow down, it gives me an opportunity to more clearly hear
His voice and be encouraged by His Truth.
"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives... and whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Colossians 3:16-17
