Scraps of Grace

Today I’ve started a 20 minute rule. You’re probably thinking what??? Twenty minute rule? That sounds like what I say when I put my kid in time-out.

I sort of think God is looking at me that way lately. I’ve been constantly rushing ahead. My mind has been racing thinking “what is God’s calling on my life?” “What big moves can I make to make sure I get where God wants me right this very second?”

Today it hit me that God probably isn’t sitting up in the sky saying “You go girl! Work yourself to the bone until you’re emotionally exhausted trying to please me and make things right.” No. Definitely not. I personally think, judging his character, he might be more like “Hey. Time out. Pause. Just obey me for the next 20 minutes.”

As humans, especially young adults, we want to jump ahead so badly. We want things figured out now. We are more like “God. I trust you, so let me do as much as I possibly can to make sure I don’t miss out on you” than “God. I trust you, so I’m going to relax and let you handle this.”

The other day I asked my dad, who is almost 60, what one thing he wish he knew sooner was. He said he wished he just realized that it was never complicated. That we, as humans, make something God intended to be so simple into something so complex.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

My mind says “Work harder. Do better. Be better. Do this so you don’t upset God.”

This creates anxiety and confusion, while 1 Thessalonians 5:16 creates clarity and peace.

That is the difference between our words and God’s words.

So from now on when I worry I’m not in alignment with God’s will, I have in writing, that I am committing to 20 minutes of waiting, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks.

Not 20 minutes of thinking about the future.

Bible verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Song: Keep Me in the Moment- Jeremy Camp