Staying Fresh When Life Is Hectic

Some excellent wisdom from this handsome chap (Gen 3:15b comes to mind), youth pastor here, on remaining fresh before the Lord and alive to his purpose and grace while handling the overwhelming busyness into which our lives tend to snowball.

A few excerpts I found helpful:

Am I living in my gifting and visiting my areas of weaknesses, or am I living in my weaknesses and only visiting my gifting? If we never step outside of our comfort zones and work on things we are not naturally good at, we become lopsided and eccentric. But living in our weaknesses is not sustainable over the long haul. . . .

God is calling me into a new season of life, in which I will not get to read as much as I would like, and as much as I have in the past. I can truly say that I embrace that calling with joy, because I will now learn in new ways (like how to lead, and how to preach), and the point of life is not knowledge, it's Jesus. As I surrender my passions for study to Christ and his purposes for me, I find life opening in new ways and am conquering old fears and experiencing true joy. . . .

There is a difference between starting out the day with the peace of Christ guarding my heart, and starting out the day rushing at my tasks like William Wallace rushing at the British with a battle axe. . . . [N]ot walking out my front door down to my office until I have thoroughly reflected on the fact that my sins are forgiven makes a difference. There is fresh energy in that reality every day. If it seems stale, I think about who God is to forgive, and what sin has been forgiven, and how it came to pass that it could be forgiven, and what joys I know because it is forgiven. It makes the difference for the rest of my day.

I am instructed, encouraged, and even a bit rebuked.

The whole thing is worth reading and reflecting on.