Gentle and Humble

We live in a world that values production over connection. This is obvious when we look at the economic growth of our country and the simultaneous decline of the marriage and family unit. While correlation is not causation, this connection doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. We are so obsessed with production, wealth, and success that we miss out on the connection we were made for. Our families may have become disconnected roommates, but at least we have money, a well-decorated house, and a manicured lawn. If this is the reality of many families, it’s no wonder so many teenagers leave the church. If connection with Jesus was never a priority in their home, they may be less likely to pursue a connection to the vine. It feels less productive to sit down and read the Bible than it does to do a load of laundry, but reading the Bible connects us to the one True Vine. It feels less important to pray with our children than it does to help them finish their homework, but praying helps us and our children connect to the one True Vine. In light of eternity, connection to the Vine is more productive than any of the fleeting work we pursue on this earth. The more we willingly choose connection over production, the more we will see steady fruit grow in our lives. Choosing connection is an act of trust in God. To deny ourselves production is to tell ourselves that what we accomplish is not as important as fostering connection with Jesus. When we choose connection over production, we are reminding ourselves that we aren’t as important as we think we are. Connection is an act of rest in Jesus’s finished work on the cross.  Reflection/Discussion Question: How can you start to practice connection over production in your life?

We like to try to produce the kind of life we want by our thoughts, relationships, and achievements. We believe that we can produce joy through enough positive thinking. We believe we can produce love with enough positive relationships. We believe we can produce peace with enough positive habits. The problem is, we are trying to produce joy, love, and peace outside of the source of those things. Jesus is the source of love, joy, and peace. We cannot love without Jesus. We will not know true joy outside of Jesus. And we cannot attain peace without a relationship with the Prince of Peace. It doesn’t matter how many self-help books we read, how much we meditate and visualize, or how many habits we try to implement into our lives, if we aren’t connected to the vine, we will always fail. Jesus is the source of all good things. Love, peace, and joy effortlessly flow out of Jesus into us if we remain connected branches. So, how do we connect to Jesus? We spend time with him. Just like how we might foster connection in a marriage or with our children, we foster connection with Jesus when we spend time with him. We can spend time in prayer, worship, the Bible, solitude, and rest. As we implement these practices into our every day lives, we can live as branches connected to the Vine. And as we produce the fruit of connection to Jesus, we’ll see the futility of trying to produce this fruit in our own strength. Reflection/Discussion Question: What do you tend to do in order to pursue love, joy and peace?

I started by getting up 15 minutes earlier, before work, to pray. I set my alarm clock, wondering what I could say for a whole 15 min! But soon realized that time was so sweet and not enough time, so I extended it to 30 minutes. Then I decided to add in 20-30 minutes of my Devotionals needing done. There was the SECC FB devotional, my Freedom in Christ workbook homework devotional, my FIC daily devotional book, my FIC phone app of prayers needing said, my ladies group Bible app devotional…. And on it goes. I soon found myself just busting through them to get them all done in the allotted time (Checked off my To Do list in the shortest amount of time!) That is not the heart of God! I had turned my God Time into a list of tasks needing completed! So I’ve asked him to show me what to let go. To just pick one or two and meditate on it slowly and listen to what he is trying to show me today, instead of feeling good about myself that I got all the boxes ticked! I’ve stopped trying to tick through my prayer checklist of “bless him, bless her, do this, do that” - instead just sitting in a posture of waiting and listening. I pray for him to show me the best way to be in his presence, sitting at His feet. Just being with my beloved. I want to be a Mary, not a Martha

I was in the habit of praying, early in the morning, alone, in a room when no one was around and I’ve slowly gotten out of the habit. This challenge has made me think about praying ANY time I am alone. One such time really jumps out to me - my Mom and Dad are living as snowbirds in FL and they have purchased a little bit bigger home (which they hadn’t closed on yet) - for all the guests they have - well they were starting to stress about selling the smaller home they already had. They were having to clean, pack up the dog and leave at a moments notice almost daily. Every Saturday they had to vacate the house and it was becoming very stressful. I was visiting over Spring Break last week, and they were out running errands, didn’t want to bother me, but asked if I could get the dog out of the house for them, they had a showing in 20 minutes. I didn’t think about doing this until I entered the home, but I prayed- I was alone. I asked God for the person coming to see the house be so passionate about having the home that they would make an offer that day. I just can’t capture the feeling in words, but I just knew God placed his hand on the situation and it felt amazing when my Mom sent me a text - we have a verbal offer! I told her what I did and we both got those happy tears, you know the ones you get when you know, you just know the creator of all things truly loves you and craves time with you. My alone time prayers have increased for many other things, I’m not perfectly following a schedule, but I love pouring my heart out to our Father in heaven and know he is ready to listen at any moment. Appreciate the challenge!