Traffic Jam

Traffic.  Gridlock.  The stop and go.  The hustle and bustle.  The noise.  The frustration.  The chaos.  The madness.  It can kill the best morning mood and bring a grumpy end to a wonderful day.  And at some point you'll actually have to get in your car and drive...

Sometimes life leaves you feeling like you're stuck in traffic.  Home, work, church, school and community commitments keep us in a perpetual whirl of busyness.  We run here and there until we run ourselves ragged.  We're stretched so thin that our emotions teeter on the brink of either breakdown or explosion.  We live in a constant state of exhaustion, but continue to add commitments.  And then we wonder why we're having trouble hearing God.

In our efforts to be the best spouse, parent, friend, volunteer that we can be, we become consumed by busyness.  But, without really concentrated effort, God's voice is drowned out in the noise.  We live our lives the midst of the traffic, often forgetting there's an exit lane that can bring us rest and renewal.

We become so concerned with being committed to other people's good things, that we lose track of what the best things for us are.  We measure our value (because deep down it's what we think others are doing when they watch us) based on the number of things we can juggle at once while looking our best and wearing our best plastic smile.  All the while, inside we're exhausted wondering why on earth we committed to this.  And forget that God is counting the number of commitments we make to determine our value.  He's looking at how we're serving him.


And all God wants us to do is step out of the traffic.  Step away from the madness and the chaos and fix our eyes on him.  Stop over-committing to everything and starting committing to only those things that are God's best for us.  Take the exit off the busy highway and rest, re-energize, recharge, renew.  Slow down.  Say no.  Step out of the traffic.  Step out of the noise, where his voice is clear.

"Step out of the traffic.  Take a long, loving look at me, you High God, above politics, above everything." Psalm 46:10 MSG

The Disconnect

Have you ever grown so tired that you just have a total disconnect? Not just an I'm-so-sleepy kind of tired, but a complete and total physical, spiritual & emotional tired that is almost painful? On Sunday, I heard a fact about the Psalmist David that I had never heard.  David had about an 18 month period where he grew weary of fighting God's battle.  He decided to make his own way and disconnect from God's work.  He didn't pray, he didn't write.  In fact, for 18 months we had no Psalms from King David.

His disconnect from fighting God's battle didn't stop him from having to fight.  It just became his fight.  At the end of it, he returned home with his men to find his village destroyed and wives & children gone.  Then he cried out to God.

How often have we been there? Maybe it hasn't been a year and a half since we've reached out to God, but it's been a long time since we've really connected with Him, really been intimate with Him.  Or maybe it really has been that long period of time that there's been no communication.

It struck me that David was weary, so he gave up the fight.  But his fight continued.  Just without God.  So often we grow weary.  The path that God has placed before us seems impassable.  The road we're going down has more ups & downs that an amusement park roller coaster.  The journey we're on seems to be through a never ending wilderness.  And we just want to quit.  Disconnect.  Give up.  Walk away.  Stop fighting.  But when we do, we may find rest for a short time, but the fight always continues.

David is someone I so often feel I relate to.  Maybe one of the most "human" of all of the Bible heroes we know about.  He failed often, felt short of the glory, but always returned to his God.  David disconnected in a time of weariness and exhaustion.  And fought a long battle that was likely made more difficult because he had no connection to God in that time.  But he came back.  He reconnected.  And God restored all that was lost plus some.

Are you in a place of disconnect right now? Maybe you've grown weary of the battle that you've been fighting.  You've grown discouraged by the path God is leading you down.  All you want to do right now is quit.  Throw in the towel.  Disconnect.  God wants you to know that sees your battle.  He knows your path has been troubled.  God knows you're weary.  But what he wants most of all right now is for you to connect deeper.  Press in more.  And know that He is God.