November 16th, 2015 By BBQ

Does busyness serve as our existence? Do distractions rob you of your time? Six men took 45:00 out of their Monday morning to discuss busyness and how to deal with it.

Impression Management:
– Some believe busyness serves as our existence, author Tim Kreider said: “Obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.”
– We proudly talk of our stuff-full schedules and refuse to let others see us rest.
– We want our lives to count so we pose and perform to hit the quota, win the award, save the day.
– But by doing this, does it get us what we are truly seeking – our Father? (No) God accepts us as we are.
– For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (1 John 2:16 NLT).

Distractions:
– Electronic gear is really, really cool. But am I more fascinated with my stuff than with God?
– What are we better at, rest or amusement? Think about your last family trip (i.e. Disney World)
– Dr. Christine Sine said [paraphrase] “We know that if our heartbeats are irregular then we need to see a physician for a checkup. However, we are unaware spiritual rhythms are just as crucial to our health and well-being.
– “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT).
– Do we remember this in the moment? Or let worldly trinkets or dings of our phones distract us?

Jesus Pace is Rhythmic:
– WWJD? He withdraws to gain insight on important decisions, such as which men to call to follow him. He withdraws so that he simply can pray. He withdraws to enjoy time with his closest companions. He withdraws as a means of teaching his disciples the unparalleled value of rest. [Listen up] He doesn’t wait until his mission is accomplished. He doesn’t wait until someone sanctions a few days off for him. He doesn’t’ even wait for an official “Sabbath” to dawn. When he senses it’s time to withdraw, he just goes.
– Jesus’ rhythm: Engage, engage, engage, withdraw…rinse and repeat!
– It’s how we’re invited to live too. We’re invited to work hard and retreat frequently and trust that whatever falls through the cracks while we’re retreating will get tackled during our next working-hard time.

Jesus’ Pace is Non-Legalistic:
– Our rest shouldn’t be at a certain time on a certain day, each and every week. “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27 NLT)
– When we need to withdraw, take courage Jesus sees it fit to do so.
– We can leave the busyness that runs our lives, the “people with needs”, the stuff that’s occupying us if it’s peace that we need.

MOLESKIN:

• Lots of good discussion and takeaways this morning. The one that hit YHC the hardest was said by @BanjoBoy – “it’s easy to give 10% of our money (tithe) to God but harder to give 10% of our time, which equates to 2.4 hours daily.” WOW!
• All agreed most vacations leave us more tired than rested. And “the look” the M gives when some members of the PAX try to do work while on the beach is not a good one (neither are the her comments). #truth
• Not only did the PAX miss @Gamma‘s presence but our normal waitress (who’s name YHC still doesn’t know) asked if the “unsweet tea drinker was coming.”

3rdF, Endurance, Harrisburg