Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NASB)

This post is written toward the end of a long week, well in the heart of a long season, smack in the middle of a valley. Everyone will encounter them in their walk. But one thing this stubborn agent does is slip back into attacking the climb in my own strength…and eventually, run on fumes till my body will force me to stop.

There were many telltale signs, but one was the constant eye twitch. In this age of information, I Googled the causes of it, and this Web MD article listed the following:

• Fatigue? Check.
• Stress? Check.
• Lack of sleep? Check.
• Caffeine? Check.

It’s so easy to pray earnestly, fervently, persistently, and in all things give Him thanks…but also easy to switch right back to striving needlessly as if He weren’t in our lives. I write this as much for myself as for you or any other believer who can very easily strive as if they were unbelievers: Yes, God calls us to give our best for Him in all we do…but He also calls us to take rest.

I have to stop and think: How am I glorifying Him by trying to do everything by myself? Do people see God at work through me when I do that? Am I really exercising proper boundaries if I don’t say no to every request? Am I remembering to ask Him to guide me on my proper priorities (Him first, all else second)? Did Jesus die for me to live like this?

If you’re a workaholic like me, I invite you to stop with me. Breathe. Talk to God and ask Him to reorient us back in alignment with His goals for us, His plans for us, and His peace…so that we don’t let the frenetic world and its godless demands dominate our walk. God is our walk. May He always be our guide and goal, every step of the way.

“Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” -‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:3‬ ‭(NLT)‬‬

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

My boss at work often likes to ask the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer: one bite at a time.

Every morning, you can look at your life at different levels of scale. You can look at the long commute to work, or that impossible project or workload waiting for you, or that personal relationship you wish would magically improve. You might forecast way out and be overwhelmed by how you think life will be for you in the long run.

In truth, no matter what we face, and what lies ahead, we can trust God to help us focus on just the next step. That’s all we need to do. We take it step by step with His guidance, and He will lay the next step before us. We entrust Him with our future, and every step on the way there.

We are not driven or ruled by our circumstances. We live in service to the Lord. So no matter how fast things are coming down the conveyor belt, we need to look to the Lord for guidance to discern which items, if any, on that belt are the ones to tackle to His glory.

There are spiritual mountains to which Jesus refers where we can, with total faith in God, have them cast into the sea. But some mountains are there because God needs us to scale them.

I used to get overwhelmed by the totality of a mountain of stressful factors, my mind and emotions overwhelmed in the attempt to solve all of them. That was before Jesus was in my life. Now, when I feel myself going to that place again, I stop to have a coffee or walk to anything else to regroup and ask Him for guidance.

He reminds me that busyness is a trap of the enemy…that by putting too much before me, my flesh mind and senses will be overwhelmed. Jesus helps filter out the noise, to see which steps are false. He reminds me that He can help me control the quality of my steps, rather than how many steps I take. It’s not the rate of steps that matters, but where I step. I need to step where He guides me!

You might be tempted to say that, in practice, this doesn’t work. But I’ve had to learn over and over that walking with God’s guidance, and not the world’s, will bring the heat. That heat may come when I propose a more sane, healthier way to approach work, or interpersonal exchanges. And I need to trust that God will bring me through that heat to the other side for a reason.

Your mountain, whether it’s the challenges of work, personal life, or both, can be tackled. You can reach the summit. But you do it one deliberate step at a time, with God, for God.

Today’s soundtrack

TobyMac’s “Beyond Me” acknowledges that when we’re overwhelmed, it’s time to let God shine.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. -2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)

A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. -Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle with this verse.

I love the idea of it, but it’s so hard to not sometimes not walk by sight, especially after walking this earth blind—but thinking I was seeing clearly—for 40 years. I’m getting better at it, though, because it’s so freeing to stop stressing and worrying and making “what if I’d decided the other way?” second guesses following a hasty and prayerless decision.

The context for this verse is in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, where he gives the assurance that our world things, like our house and mortality, are just of this world, but that God has better things planned for us ahead. So, we will groan and life’s events will happen, but in anticipation of this, God has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us while we are absent from the Lord.

It’s actually during the most trying times when it’s actually been easier for me to walk by faith, because it’s in those situations when I just throw up my hands in surrender. Well, hands up in surrender is the perfect position for a believer, isn’t it?

So, day by day, moment by moment, and step by step, let us remember our walk is first with the Lord. He’s got great plans for us, and our walk here on earth is a journey through which He is making us ever more in His Son’s image. Let’s walk.

Today’s soundtrack

Jeremy Camp’s “Walk by Faith” reminds us that every step we take in faith has a God-given purpose for our lives.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. -Philippians 4:6

We all fail in this regard from time to time. Some maybe more often than that.

But anxiety and worrying are the opposite of faith in the truth that God has a solution on the other side of the issue you’re concerned about…that what you’re focusing on is part of a much larger plan.

So let go of your anxiety by diving deep into His word and His promises. Pray up everything in your heart to Him…the things you celebrate and the things that weigh on you. All of it is part of His plan and future for you.

From John Piper Ministries is an excellent devotional, called “Ammunition against anxiety:”

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

Read the whole devotional »

And underlying all of that, you have stresses and pains in your heart that make addressing all of the above even more difficult.

Well, all of those are distractions. Yes, even the pains in your heart. This is where we really, really have to take our eyes off ourselves and our worldly obligations, and refocus on Him. Keeping our eyes trained on Him gives us a supernatural peace in the face of anything, because we’re not looking at the waves in our lives. And, most importantly, it helps us get our priorities straight again. It’s amazing how your list of “must do’s” will change when you refocus and put Him back on the top of that list, as He should!

I say all this because this is something I’m constantly working on, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

This Pocket Fuel devotional speaks more about distractions:

Many things will cross your path. Some will enhance and invigorate your journey, others bring destruction and pain… Through it all, keep your eyes focused on God. Don’t get distracted, steady your mind and heart and enjoy this beautiful life you’ve been given. No matter what blessing or heartache has overwhelmed you, God will lead you through, healing and refining you step by step.

Read the whole devotional at Pocket Fuel »

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Sometimes we reach points where we just can’t take it any more, and we would be content if God just beamed us up right now, so we wouldn’t have to endure any more. The weight on our hearts can seem unbearable.

When this happens, we really, really have to stop and return to God’s promises…it’s when we focus too much on our circumstances when they drown out the quiet assurances He has given us all along. He puts hopes and dreams and visions in our hearts that the enemy would love for us to doubt ever came from God. I’ve been there, as I’m sure you have, too.

We must remember that He already knows everything that will happen in our lives, that His future plans for us are good, and that we simply need to trustfully walk in obedience while he lays our steps before us. It would be so easy to give up because our prayers don’t seem to be answered…but remember that He answers according to His will and timing.

If God has put something on your heart, don’t give up. Rejoice always, and pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Because—guess what?—He is in your past, present, and future, and He is waiting for you to follow Him to the next stop in the glorious journey for you.

Take comfort in His assurances that you are loved and comforted and carried through every season and trial and victory. We glorify Him in how we handle the hard times, too.

Today’s soundtrack

Casting Crown’s “Already There” beautifully addresses times like these, when we stress over the unknown future, and feel overwhelmed by today’s circumstances.

Lyrics

From where I’m standing
Lord, it’s so hard for me to see
Where this is going
And where You’re leading me
I wish I knew how
All my fears and all my questions
Are going to play out
In a world I can’t control

When I’m lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory

‘Cause You’re already there
You’re already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You’re already there
You’re already there

From where You’re standing
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture-perfect plan

When I’m lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory

One day I’ll stand before You
And look back on the life I’ve lived
I can’t wait to enjoy the view
And see how all the pieces fit

One day I’ll stand before You
And look back on the life I’ve lived
‘Cause You’re already there You’re already there
When I’m lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
‘Cause You’re already there
You’re already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You’re already there
You’re already there