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That’s the absolute truth! When I am so busy, or so overwhelmed with the current gargantuan task ahead of me that I don’t know which end is up, I escape to the routine. The task that has consistently been there for me these past 20 years and hasn’t failed to give me an escape excuse yet. Because we all know that the dishes are never done, and, if by some miracle they are, there’s always another meal to prepare, thus creating more dishes!
I feel like I’ve been “escaping” to the kitchen more often this past month or two. Homeschooling six kids is a big enough chore on its own but add to it the dozen or so other hats I wear and sometimes I want to go screaming into the night. Life is complicated; life is hard; life can be scary. I’ve come to the realization that, while the dishes do need to be done and meals do need to be prepared, I’ve been escaping too much; doing what comes easy and natural rather than doing the hard things that will turn my dreams into reality.
As I was thinking of this fact, I was trying to come up with a solution. A “fix” to get myself out of this rut and onto better things. My first inclination was an organization chart. A schedule. A plan of action.
Yeah! That’ll work! Groan! Because I haven’t made a hundred of those in the past only to follow them for a month before I get tired of it! Besides, I actually have a good schedule, I just need to do it!
There had to be something else, some other missing link to connect the dots and allow everything to run smoothly. Well, it just so happens that, as I was pondering this, the speaker at church that night was talking on the power of prayer. Towards the end of the talk on Matthew 6:7-13, he gave a list that caught my attention:
If you rely on organization, you get what organization can do;
If you rely on prayer, you get what God can do!
Wow! That struck a chord! What I need is not the next greatest organizational tool, or yet another app to keep my menus in. No, I need to give my life, my schedule, and my needs to God and rely on His grace to get me through.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalms 37:3-5
Do I need a schedule? Yes. Do I need to plan out my day? Yes. Do I need to be more disciplined? Yes. Are those things gonna save me? No.
I can make it an idol out of organization though, for sure. I can easily worship the schedule thinking that’s the only way I can accomplish all that needs to be done. But if I rely on organization I only get what organization can accomplish, further, I only get the amount of organization I am able to stick to.
However, if I rely on God and prayer, I get the power of God working through me to accomplish all that He wants me to.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
My weakness is that I can’t stick to a schedule; I get lazy and don’t make a menu; I get overwhelmed and fearful and decide to clean my kitchen instead of doing the work God has called me to. Oh that I might be able to give it all to God and rely wholly on Him so that His power might be made perfect in my weaknesses.
