FaithStudents 5.12
“Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:29 esv
Blessed to be back
I am back in the office and it is good to be back and in the same moment I could take another paternity leave and hang with my wife, new child and all my kids for another couple of weeks. Just being honest. Have you felt that way recently? Have you desired to be in two places at once at the same time, yeah, kinda weird right?
We are in that crazy busy season of our ministry calendar where we are preparing for the upcoming busyness of summer and finishing the year as purposefully as we can. Once again stuck in two different places with the necessity to look up and look ahead and the pressing need to focus on what is right in front of us. Just weird!
However, as I focus on that in my job and in my ministry I also ask that in my own life too. How do I adequately look at what is ahead and focus on the next steps without losing my balance? Because it is a balancing act and with students in school and activities it is harder and more complex. Just a quick question to point out the struggle of this in your life…
What is your worst day of the week (busiest day) that you just kind of dread?
We have those days, those weeks and those months that just blindside us. However, we are consistently trying to get control of life and our situations. When we can get a hold of everything we feel like we have control, but that changes consistently. Control when my wife and I were both working with only one child is far different then when we now have 7 kids and one of us works outside the house. Life Changes, Control looks differently, but oddly enough busyness doesn’t change. We just know busyness doesn’t feel good.
Corrie Ten Boom once said, ‘If the devil can’t make you sin he will make you busy.’
Famous psychologist Carl Jung had this little saying, ‘Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.’
John Mark Comer said, ‘People are just too busy to live emotionally healthy and spiritually rich and vibrant lives’.
So I am left with the question of how do I find a right pace in the midst of busyness and yet guide my family and our ministry without a panicked need to find control (don’t kid yourself we all have a panicked need of control that is hard to be around, just ask your family). Because control is an illusion and I am never in control, I have to make sure He is in control otherwise we lose the God-given blessing to be seen and felt.
Where to go from here…
I can only tell you where I go from here, ‘Own the busyness that I unnecessarily take on and don’t get my focus stuck.’ You see I tend to miss the blessings that I feel God is wanting to show me because I am looking at things through a ‘get-this-done’ lens rather than a prayerful state and bringing it before the Lord. Secondly, I need to vary my gaze from what is down the road and what is right in front of me.
What about you?
How you you deal with busyness if it gets in the way of God’s ability to show you the blessings around you? That is the tricky part, we tend to think our busyness as just something to handle. What if it does effect our blessed lives and how we see the blessings of the the Father? What if it got in the way of seeing the blessings round us? What is your phrase, mantra, parable, proverb that you are living by to get you to see Him?
I am here to minister to the students and to do that by helping parents and guardians to disciple their students as best they can so please email me if you have a question, scott@faithchurchaustin.org or check out our site at faithchurchaustin.org/gather/students
Our bi-monthly emails will be focused on encouraging you parents with resources and filling you all up to disciple your students. How can I pray for you or your students?
Scott Owens
Student Ministry Pastor
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