Doing, Doing,
Doing has become a form of how to measure our self-worth. We are bombarded with messages from
self-proclaimed success gurus everywhere we look. They are eager to teach us “how to be more
productive”, “how to accomplish more in our day”, and how to get things
done”. The world teaches us that
overachieving lives are fulfilled lives.
We see
advertisements and videos like this everywhere we look. These “experts” are happy to help you
increase your productivity for a fee of course.
Now don’t get me
wrong, we are not supposed to be lazy people sitting around eating chocolate
bon bons, sipping our favorite coffee drink all day while scrolling social
media.
What if we truly
asked our Heavenly Father each morning what He would like for us to do that
day. I will be the first to admit I am a
list person. I love the satisfaction of
checking each item off the list.
A good friend of
mine and I have had conversations about our “to do” lists. We both have been guilty of adding something
we did just so we could check it off the list.
We can’t be the only ones who have done that, can we? Have you ever done that?
I am not saying
having a “to do” list is a bad thing. I
know it helps me to remember what needs to be done. But we don’t need to get our confidence or
self-worth from what we do, no matter how big or small it is.
Have you ever won
an award or received recognition for achieving a certain goal? I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t feel
great to get recognized when you accomplish something you have been working on.
But what happens
if that big thing we were trying to achieve never happens? What if no one makes a big deal about it when
we do achieve it? That can also affect
our identity if our confidence is not found in Christ alone.
This world,
especially in America teaches us to work hard and keep hustling. We are bombarded with lies from society and
even in some churches that being an overachiever is to be applauded.
But what if some
of the things we are achieving are not things God wants us to do? What if it just looks good and we do it
without asking Him.? Have you ever done
something and then asked God to bless it?
I know I have and then I blamed it not working out on the devil when
maybe it just wasn’t something in God’s plan for my life.
Most believers
know the story of Mary and Martha, but putting it into practice is not always easy,
is it? We can get so busy “serving” in
our local church like Martha that we don’t take time to sit at Jesus’ feet like
Mary.
Are you concerned
with what other people are thinking about you?
To be honest they aren’t thinking about you as much as you think they
are.
The Bible even
says that Martha was distracted with much serving. It’s easy to get distracted from what’s truly
important now if we are not careful.
Over time if it
becomes a habit, it will affect our lives more than we realize. How do I know this? Because I have personally experienced
it. For nine years I was trying to
accomplish something and will admit now that I have completely stopped working
towards that goal. I was
distracted. Did I stop loving God during
that time? No, not at all. Martha loved Jesus and thought what she was
doing was important.
I thought what I
was trying to do was going to help a lot of people because of the money I was
going to make. I would then be able to
give to a lot of the causes I am passionate about. That’s what I believed. I would be able to “retire” my husband. That’s a whole other issue that was wrong
thinking on my part. I am so grateful my
husband is a hard worker and good provider.
Can I be honest
with you and say I believe it was sent as a distraction in my life? It looked good and sounded good, but it
became a distraction. I will not blame
anyone, even the devil. I allowed it to
become a huge distraction from what I should have been focused on.
Listen to this episode to see what you should do and not do.
