How to Slow Down the "Busy Blender"
Continue reading ONLY if you are a busy person.
Continue reading ONLY if you have texted while driving in the last 24 hours.
OK. Thanks for the honesty.
· Have you ever watched the before and after of a fruit smoothie in the making?
I watched one of my kids making one the other day in the following way:
Individual frozen strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries were mixed with orange juice, and Greek yogurt.
The liquefy button was mashed and the blades of the blender began to whirl.
As my ears filled with the screaming roar of the blender, my mind began to realize just how busy my life has been.
· Are you busy?
· Are the mini-moments of life overcrowded with buzzing activity?
Would you like to learn two ways to slow down the “busy blender”?
First, know that busyness without a brake leads to burnout.
We all know what it is like to be overdrawn financially.
You live beyond your means.
But do we know that when we live beyond our means with the time God has given to us we become overdrawn in our humanity?
Calculate a quick time budget with me (Are you overdrawn?)
Let’s start with the 168 hours that God gives us each week.
I’ve heard counsellors suggest the following “healthy” time budget:
Sleep: 50 hours (Kinda important for our bodies. This is applying the brake of rest to our always-on-the-go life.)
Work: 50 hours (We were created to work six days and rest one. Work is aiming our effort at growing beauty for God’s glory.)
Family: 17 hours (About a “tithe” or tenth of our 168 hours. Family/spouse time is all about giving undivided ATTENTION to family.)
Care/Recreation/Community: 51 hours (Break it down hourly any way you like…but don’t sacrifice family, work or sleep to get more from these three good things).
· Care for your stuff (Cars, home, etc.)
· Recreation (What restores and relaxes you?)
· Service to others: (Sharing your gifts with your church family and community)
How did you make out?
Are you overdrawn?
Maybe you need to apply the brakes in an area that is blending too many ingredients for your own good.
Maybe you need to scale back and reduce the pace of busyness to avoid burnout.
Secondly, seek to understand the “Why?” behind the need for busyness.
If I’m honest, I usually whip and whirl the opportunities of life together at an inhuman pace because I am addicted to productivity.
I love to set goals, accomplish dreams, enjoy spontaneous opportunities and multi-task to make the most out of every moment.
But why?
Could it be that I equate my productivity with my worth?
Deep down I often see God as my employer rather than my smiling heavenly Father.
This category error pulls the curtain back to reveal the “why?” behind my high-paced productivity.
Listen to this oh so good news!
Psalm 37:7 says “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”
Stillness for this Hebrew poet was a motionless silence of active waiting.
It’s like a child playing hide and go seek with her daddy. As her dad counts to ten, she runs into the bathroom, steps into the bathtub, pulls the shower curtain and enters into a state of stillness.
She stands motionless in silence actively waiting.
Her dad playfully shouts “Ready or not here I come!”
Her pulse quickens as he rattles the bathroom doorknob and slowly slides open the shower curtain.
She screams with joy as she is discovered.
Did you notice that it was in the stillness NOT the busyness that she experienced breathtaking joy with her father?
I want to slow down the blender of busyness and heighten times of playful wonder with God.
· What would you need to do to slow down the blender of busyness?
As we walk through the door of summertime, let’s enjoy times of stillness before the LORD.
We just might become more human in the waiting.
Pastor Howard
Senior Pastor
Metro North Church
