No really, be still...

My mug from Sue!

I entered Christmas break feeling "spent." Drained. Empty.  I was exhausted- physically and spiritually.  Like so many I know, I had been running on the daily treadmill of life and it felt like someone had cranked up the speed to "Maximum."  Oh, it was all great stuff, really- being Mom; attending concerts & sporting events; leading Bible Study,Youth Group, & Sunday School... the list goes on.  Unfortunately, the very obligations that I love were draining me dry.  "I'm so tired..." I would say, as I grabbed what I needed for the next item on my calendar and ran out the door.
Jesus said that "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy;  I have come that they might have life and have it to the full" (Jn10:10)  

One hurried morning I grabbed a coffee mug that reads "Be still and know that I am God." Sue, from work, had given to me last Christmas. "That's what I need,"  I thought as I filled it to the brim with rich Dark Roast and ran out the door. However, as I anxiously waited at nearly every red light on the way to work that day- I  looked again and again at that cup.  I downed its contents- trying to revive.

But, the coffee wasn't the answer.  The cup wasn't even the answer.  Oh, it had the answer, but reading the words alone would do me no good.  I looked again. "Be still... and know... that I am God."

I laughed outright as I entered work, cup in hand. "Sue" I chirped, "I grabbed this cup, 'cause I knew it was just what I needed today..." I laughed, " but the the problem was, I didn't do it!"  Sue smiled, knowing me all too well.

I was exhausted going into Christmas. I knew what the remedy was.  I held it within my grasp.  The question was... would I do it?

God is Good. His ways are good. He even tells us how to have an overflowing life in this grind called life. It is to our befit that we would follow his ways.  Yet, I wonder if anyone else is like me- knowing what I should do in my head, but not doing it.  Sometimes I get busy.  Busy even for Him! Studying his word, knowing what it says... even teaching it to others- but not doing it.  How foolish I can be!  Jesus said it is the wise man who hears his words... and acts on them (Mt 7:24) .   

Well, I am happy to report that I did not take the foolish route over Christmas.  I did heed His message on my cup- "Be still and know..."  The answer to my "spent-ness" was to be still and reconnect with God.  I did. Ironically, I found refreshment on a real treadmill- feeding my spirit & caring for my body. Life didn't stop in the Fritze household, but it could manage without me in charge.  I was reminded- God is God... and I am not. Which is best on so many levels!