If you were to ask what is most important to me, I would tell you my family, the work God has given me to do on the earth, and the legacy I will leave behind. These are the things that keep me tethered to living the purposes of God and experiencing His peace. At any given moment, when I begin to feel a bit beside myself, I come back to these three things. I look for the disconnect in the rhythms of my family and how I might be off track with what God has clearly told me to do. If I am unable to pinpoint what has caused me to drift, the answer, then, becomes quite simple.
I realize I am distracted.
Life gets loud sometimes.
Being distracted is inevitable in a world with so many things competing for our attention. Far-reaching is the surrounding noise that contends with what is most important in our lives. I often find that when my focus is diverted away by the things of the world—busyness, fear, chaos and confusion—it’s my relationship with God, my relationship with myself and my relationship with others that are affected in some way.
Because at the point of distraction, I lose sight of my three things.
I wonder if you, too, can relate. Are the things of this world causing you to become off-kilter? Is the noise pulling you away from how God desires to work in and through you for His kingdom purposes? When I’m not operating how I should be or shifting away from the spaces God is asking me to show up, I notice the difference in how I engage the world around me.
If overwhelm causes you to lack peace, if fear creeps in as the world gives way, if you begin to lose sight of your eternal value and the imprint you can make in your sphere of influence, then it’s a good time to press pause.
If you ever feel like it’s all too much.
Know that I feel that, too, sometimes.
But then I remember what my mom taught me.
My mom loved sunsets. She loved to stop and take in the beauty of God’s creation. She wasn’t hurried by the next thing on her list of to-do’s. She wasn’t distracted by the sounds of cars driving by, or shaken by unexpected news. She lived present to the truth she knew and the value of a life lived in who God created her to be. She sought to discover God’s intentions for the life she would live on this earth.
For her, that was all that mattered.
What I learned from watching my mom is this.
There is significance in valuing the things of God.
Life works better that way.
What’s important to God must become important to those who follow Him. Because when His children live a life dependent upon Him, life may not always be easy, but it is a little simpler. Submitting to the things of God means that our thinking can be transformed by the renewing of our mind, our purposes will be formed to passionately pursue His righteousness, and our love for others will be directed by our transfer of His grace and truth. When we operate according to His great love and mercy, focus on His comfort and peace, and are “demonstrating His values to those around you, you will usher in authentic change not only in others but in the culture as well” (Kingdom Values).
When we live life valuing what God values, then life simply works better.
Focusing on what matters to God is one major way to quiet the noise.
Living God’s way is also an invitation for others to know Him.
And knowing God changes everything.
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”
Acts 1:7-8
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