I know from years of experience that being busy sounds great until you realize what comes with it. Always being frenetically occupied is what many people aspire to, until you wake up shaking and sweating in the night worrying about keeping your life’s deck of cards from tumbling into a heap.
It sounds great until you have to live through the anger and yelling that spews forth from the stress factory in your soul. It sounds great until you have to live in perpetual turmoil.
I actually used to live that way. You may already know what I found out: It is horrible.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17
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A “House of Cards” is anything built on a shaky foundation that will collapse if a necessary–but possibly overlooked or unappreciated–element is removed. The expression dates back to 1645. WIKIPEDIA
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Consuming our life with busyness when fear and worry invade puts us on a dangerous path. We must push back the busyness and pray! That may sound simplistic, but why should it? After all, God’s truth and promises haven’t changed just because a war threat is mounting on one of life’s borders. The issue isn’t whether or not the storms will chase us—they will—but whether or not we stay on God’s road or get off. Fear and worry will trouble us, but those thoughts can leave as quickly as they came, once we are settled in God’s truths.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11
My goal is to carefully monitor my busyness level in the middle of life’s vicious slipstream. Of course it’s a matter of giving it up to God through prayer. But to maximize the impact of our extended hand to God we cannot be consumed by busyness trying to keep our “house of cards” in place.
When busyness takes over our life it is impossible to fully appreciate and feel and be transformed by God’s hand. We miss the new day’s sun peeking up over the horizon and later descending into the night’s abyss. We miss the smiles of joy around us. We miss the hopes and aspiration of life.
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11
