Friday, November 2, 2007

Pursuit of Happyness

We live very busy lives, confronting mountains of responsibilities that often seem impossible to surmount. For me a typical week day starts at 4 a.m when I get up from bed. By 5 a.m I'm pulling out of my driveway heading for work which is 50 miles and 1 hour away - depending on traffic - to return 12 hours later. I do this 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year and I don't even give much thought to it - well apart from the lower back pain. The question hardly ever crosses my mind, "What if I'm not able to get up from bed tomorrow morning even though I want to?" What if there is a disconnect between my body and my brain such that I'm not able to work even though I desire to?" What if my brain tells my body to move and my body is not able to?" What if I tell my hand to pick up the hair brush and brush my hair and the hand simply isn't able to?" What if I tell my legs to take me from the house to the car and the legs wobble and crumble under me even though they crave to obey my command?" What if? What if? On and on the questions go on. In this there is much wisdom, to ponder at the awesome work of God in our lives and give Him thanks. To always remember there is more to life than the pursuit of the dollar bill. To understand that our purpose here on earth is to SERVE GOD.

6 comments:

Joyful said...

This post echoes my sentiments today. I'm so overwhelmed with my everyday life that I haven't taken the time out to sit back and thank God for what he has enabled me to do! As I pursue all my daily goals, I really need to stop and put my life in perspective! After all, I am (we are) created uniquely for divine purposes. It would truely be a shame if we got lost in the hustle and bustle... thank you for sharing your post.

XtianDoctrine said...

I once heard someone say that the World System is set up is such a way that all our attention, focus, reverence, and devotion is to worship and serve the Mammon god. Now we do know that we cannot serve both God and Mammon at the same time - we either love one and hate the other. So the choice is really up to us. Will it be God or Mammon?

Akin said...

Joyful it is really a very tough world. Very difficult to strike a balance. And truth be said we really do have genuine issues that we face everyday and it is almost humanly impossible not to lose focus. We need to pray that God gives us the ability to distinguish between what is important and what is essential so that we make the right choices at all times.

simplynues said...

I feel that way too Joyful... sometimes I wake up so late, get behind on everything and then do my silent prayer on my drive down 83. And I feel convicted that God says to me "Look Gal that not would not cut it, I need to talk to you about thing thing thing" It even gets so bad that some weeks when I do get to pray, I get distracted my upcoming projects or deadlines at work. It takes effort to block out time even on weekends when family starts calling you as early as 6am.... ON SATURDAY!!!!! I desire to stay connected to God everyday every min every sec but how do I consistently do that when so many things are begging for my attention? It is a daily struggle I tell you... A daily struggle.

MSTARDSEED said...

The last few months have been challenging to say the least.

I have found myself launching into spells of self-pity and exhaustion -- looking at what I've done and what STILL IS LEFT TO BE DONE.

I have found this to even happen in the midst of a worship experience at church.

Just forgetting that what is left to be done is more about God and less about my own selfish priorities.

When one places life in this sort of perspective, it becomes a reason to rejoice...

You see, we are here for just a short ride... a tour of duty so to speak. Where we are going, there will be no concern but to worship,praise and serve God!

They'll be no money issues, no sorrow, no pain

They'll just be rejoicing. I don't know about you, but I try to remember this each and every day, and I get excited and can't wait to go home!

I believe wholeheartedly that my God wants us to experience some of that here, but we can only pursue happiness thru faith-based living.

If I concentrate on the money I pull in to pay my bills, then I will focus on bringing in that money rather than glorifying God. Yes, the bill needs to be paid, but render unto Caesar...

Yea, you get where I'm going...

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:31-34

Akin said...

It takes God not to lose focus. We are weak souls, but for the grace of God at work in us. When we are faced with issues of life we often follow the path of least resistant...which is to wallow in self pity and play the blame game...we blame everyone else but us...We maximize the difficulty and blow it out of proportion and in the process crowd God out of the situation. At such moments we forget the words of David in Psalm 121 which says,

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.