Worshiping the Activity Management Game
Living an “Activity Management” lifestyle is dangerous. Even with the best calibration, a wheel spinning too fast will eventually blow out. I know this to be true because it is an important part of my life story and the way God taught me a very important lesson. That’s what I want to share with you here.
As a corporate CEO in my 30s and 40s, I was a success-driven warrior who did everything to keep “that wheel” spinning. I should have known that God wanted me to give up on striving for success and commit to living a Christ-like life, fully obedient to our Lord and Savior. But I did not. Success was the singular achievement bar for me at that time of my life. I had bought into what society told me to focus on in order to get ahead of the other guy. Actually, to get ahead of all the other guys.
How could I have missed God’s clear and compelling direction in Ecclesiastes:
“I have learned why people work so hard to succeed…but it’s useless. It’s like chasing the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:4
The way God got my attention on his truth was through the imperative to raise my children to know and model Christ. Initially, that message sent me to my knees wondering how in the world those goals for my children could be achieved when I was living the activity management lifestyle. How would they respect me when I was gone and the only thing I left behind were the trappings of my worldly success? How could I stay locked in the world’s definition of success when I knew God’s truth?
God gave me strength and wisdom to be confident through all the confusion. Even though wracked with guilt and full of so many unanswered questions, I was able to believe and subordinate my feelings to God’s truths. And that is exactly what God wants. We all desperately want to live a life that exhibits God’s fruits, and we especially want to exhibit those spiritual fruits to our family and the people who come into our lives in an intimate way. Wanting to model Christ and leave behind an enduring legacy after we leave this life is the easy part. The hard part is making the course corrections by breaking through the doubts and guilt to get moving in a new direction. If we’re not careful, we will go to almost any lengths to keep playing the activity management game.
Considering the impact of our busy lifestyle, it should not be surprising that we do not truly believe and turn to activity management. It is impossible to seek, hear, and respond to God without walking away from playing the activity management game.
Thankfully, the power to find God’s peace is easy to obtain. If we believe, ask God to bless our plans, and put those plans in his hands, God will do the rest.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3
There it is. Done.
