How do you respond when people ask how you are doing? When you talk about your life, how often do you answer with “busy” so that you don’t feel guilty about being perceive as not doing enough? Do you sometimes think you truly know what you need to do to get your life in a good state but you’re afraid of taking the steps necessary to get you there due to perceived pressure from those close to you or perhaps simply from your own imagined story that you are telling yourself about how your value would be diminished?

A number of years ago I decided that I would no longer use the word “busy” to describe my life. I realized that, for the most part, I have the flexibility to control what takes place in my life and that I can actually live in a way that was healthy. I would put things in place to ensure that I had rhythms that were good and that I would believe in the scriptural mandate of work and rest.

I’ve been pondering an intriguing verse. “So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.” 2 Chronicles 36:21 NLT

This took place after Judah was sent into exile. God had ordained some life-giving rhythms for the Israelites – rest every 7 days, don’t farm every 7 years, Year of Jubilee after 49 years, various celebrations and festivals throughout the year. These were not random rules, these were set up because this is how God created us to be, to live. The Israelites didn’t live by them, and so not only were they suffering but the physical land, that they were to care for, was suffering. So God pushed them aside and gave the land its rest as it needed.

I wonder how many times God has stepped in and forced people to rest. It could have been through the loss of a job, through sickness, relational break up, etc. I’m not pretending to believe that these things are always ordained by God to force us to rest, and yet I wonder, for the person who is seeking God, that God chooses to interject into their lives some forced rest because they chose to avoid it.

I fully recognize that we all go through seasons of life. Often times these are out of our control and we need to step in to engage in a variety of areas that increase our time commitments. And yet, how often do these things completely overwhelm us because we have never built into our lives the God-designed margins that we were to be engaging in from the start.

Perhaps this is easier for me to write at this time as I am currently in what I am calling “a season of goodness.” It has been interesting to watch people’s reactions when I say this to them – it appears that they find it difficult to believe that anyone could have this season of life. And yet, in this “season of goodness”, I could choose to take on extra tasks, to fill my life with more people, attempt to move the ministry forward a faster clip – after all, I have the energy and mental capacity.

And yet, as I continually read scripture, I am reminded over and over of the beauty of rhythms. Engage in work, step back to rest. Take time to reflect, practice solitude. Stay focussed on what I am called to do and not get caught up in “the game of more” just because I could.

I am trusting that when I am faced with a significant bend in the road of life that I will have built into my life the necessary resilience and margin to be able to engage it as God calls me to. I will trust that God’s rhythms are the right ones and try to model this for others. How about you?

For the kingdom.

I have had a few conversations the past few months with those who are walking with others on a journey of discipleship who have called themselves “rookies”. This is their first time taking the lead role in owning the spiritual growth of others in a very intentional way and they are feeling the pressures of it all.

The context of calling themselves a rookie was to admit that something they did wasn’t the best, they had failed to some degree in engaging those they were leading in what they deemed was not the most effective way. It was not that they were trying to do anything wrong intentionally, but that they simply didn’t know any better – they made what they called a “rookie mistake.”

I could sense in them a pain in their heart. They wanted to do better, they felt that they let the other person down, that perhaps they weren’t the right person to be doing this work.

We all go through these moments. At times I reflect on many things I have begun and how poor a job it must have been – the first time I preached, the first small group I led, the first out front leadership task I took on, the first new staff person I was overseeing. I wince at many of the things that I should have done differently, how perhaps someone else should have stepped in at that moment.

And yet, we can only become proficient at something by first being a rookie – everyone starts as a rookie. We can read all we want on a subject, get guidance and mentoring. At that end of it all, there comes a time when we need to choose to take the risk and be a rookie, or choose to not risk anything and stay out of the game.

I have a lot of respect for those who choose to take the risk of guiding someone else on the journey of faith. It is a spiritual journey that entails going to deep parts of a person that at times are dark. It is a spiritual battle that requires much prayer and sacrifice since someone is choosing to grow close to Jesus and the spiritual forces do not want this to happen. It is a spiritual mystery involving moments of amazing life change that you have a hard time explaining and can’t control.

We will all make rookie mistakes, and years into this great work, we will all make sophomore, junior and senior mistakes. We will never stop learning because God will continually call us deeper. If we ever believe that we have the process fully learned, that is the time we should step aside because we are only fooling ourselves.

Being on the journey of guiding others in their relationship with Jesus is an amazing work. There is so much beauty in choosing this path. So whether you are a rookie or a senior, stay in the game, learn as you go. God will go before you and show you his wonderful power at work in the lives of many.

For the kingdom.