This evening as I was browsing some old emails, I came across the following passage that I wrote several years ago, along with the accompanying scriptures below, and it seems to be very applicable for me right now:
"As I was driving to work this morning I was pondering all the different things I am trying to support these days. They all seem important, some more than others. Work, house, husband, son, parents, sisters, friends, church, and each of those has their own subcategories of projects and responsibilities. Under normal circumstances, this might not sound overwhelming, but as soon as you throw in a few kinks, everything becomes exaggerated and life takes on more momentum than we can handle. It is difficult to maintain the drive to serve them all. When I take the time to slow down just for a minute and refocus, I am reminded that I really only have to serve One, and it is refreshing. Nothing else is more important than my relationship with Christ. If that relationship is healthy and strong, all the other pieces are well taken care of in His hands."
"But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD."
"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Matthew 6:24
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Mat&c=6&t=...
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Mat&c=6&t=...
And here is an excerpt from a book I highly recommend called What Happens When Women Pray by Evelyn Christenson that is also very applicable (pg 23):
"One day my husband walked out of the sanctuary of our church and encountered our custodian fairly dripping with perspiration. He was a giant of a Christian, but was gradually losing his ability to think and work effectively because of hardening of the arteries. As my husband saw him struggling with the vacuum cleaner he looked down and there lying on the floor was the plug. The dear man had vacuumed the whole auditorium and didn't have the plug in the outlet!
Isn't that what happens to many of us? We work, we pull, we struggle, and we plan until we're utterly exhausted, but we have forgotten to plug into the source of power. And that source of power is prayer - the 'effective fervent prayer' of a righteous person that avails much."
Another verse that has convicted me lately is this:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Isa&c=26&t=NLTP&x=14&y=10
I know that I must dedicate myself day by day, even moment by moment, to putting Christ first in my life. That is the choice I make! I know my problem these past few months is that I have had my eyes on my trials instead of keeping my eyes on my Savior. I will put my life, my joys and struggles, into the hands of Christ, because He is willing, and able, and He cares for me!
