I was at our Lino Lakes campus this past weekend and had the privilege of hearing Pastor Bob's message,"Revive My Soul," all four times. And thank goodness—I needed to hear it all four times.
My wife and I are busy, seemingly always on the move with two young children and another on the way. Plus a dog. Between work, chores, plans, kids, groceries, Netflix binge-watching, and exercising, the amount of speed in our lives adds up. The more we say "yes" to things, we're really saying "no" to what's most important.
Pastor Bob, quoting a John Ortberg book, emphasized the need to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives in order to restore our souls. How true. We fill our days with things to accomplish, people to see, experiences to have. But the less I have to plan, prepare and pay for, the easier it is to slow down the speed of life around me.
I think many of us go to bed at night with depleted souls. After this past weekend at church, I realized that was the case for me. I desired so badly to have 15 minutes of solitude after the kids went to bed, so while my wife made a quick trip to DQ for Sunday night blizzards (pregnancy cravingsI'm living the dream), I sat on a plastic lawn chair in my backyard and found rest as I looked out into the darkening sky. The rest I found was priceless.
No TV (even though The Office was on Netflix).
No iPhone (even though my fantasy football matchup was thrilling).
No hurrying, no skimming, no distractions.
Just a fire pit, a cool October breeze and a prayerful, quiet spirit as I sat still and invited God to restore my soul. "My soul finds rest in God alone." (Psalm 62:1)
I'm just going to leave that lawn chair in the backyard for a few days. I hope you find your lawn chair too.
