There's Peace in the Hustle

Where is the peace that God leaves with us? We live in a world where everything is about the hustle. The need to be the first one at the office. You know, because the first ones there get the freshest coffee and the best donuts. Then there’s the rush to get your kids on the bus on time or even just the day to day errands of paying bills, getting groceries and cleaning the house. There’s always something for us to do that places us in a hurry mode. We’re driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone. We’re pulling out in front of others without using caution, because we just have to be the first ones in line. Because today everyone at some point has that I have to be first mentality. What happen to the days when everything wasn’t about the hustle of life. The days when we were able to just sit back and enjoy the sunrise, or the sunset. The days when friends and family could just sit together for a meal or even just a cup of coffee. Either way, if there’s no time to spend with friends and family then where’s the time to get in our word, to minister to one another. Who has the time for creating a deep relationship with the Lord if there’s not even time for one another?

How about those who experience the opposite day to day struggles. I have friends who are sick and can barely leave their homes to enjoy the company of others. There are people who are completely healthy, but have no transportation (like myself) to even have the opportunity to do the things that these fast-paced lifers can’t make time for. Yet, in their own struggle, they selfishly spend their days feeling sorry for themselves so they too do not take the time out to be with the Lord and grow. I have been in both situations and neither are healthy physically or spiritually. In this life, there is a way to achieve growth. There is always an opportunity to cut things out of our schedules to make time for the things we are leaving out. The Lord say in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything under the sun. So, it’s up to us to make those things possible.

Going through the many changes that I have experienced lately has left me feeling sorry for myself more times then I’d like to admit. My mind is always going a hundred miles an hour. Even if I have a whole day to rest, my mind doesn’t and that’s not healthy either. So, lately I’ve been seeking the peace of God more and more, because with these body changes comes emotional changes and there are days that I am on top of the world, then there are days that I’m under a blanket wondering why I’m not on top of the world. Wondering why I’m feeling like God has abandoned me. Why has He left me alone with myself? Have you ever been alone with yourselves long enough to find out who you really are? Well, I can promise you that if you’re not filling your alone time with God’s word and keeping Him alive in you, then you won’t like who you are outside of Him. Even his word says that there is nothing good in us if He’s not in us. Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. So, outside of Christ the only thing left in us is all unhealthy things. Our walk, our talk, our actions, our thoughts. Even as a child of God we can allow our minds to go to unhealthy places.

We serve an amazing God who gives us such grace even when we are undeserving. A God who places in us such peace even when our minds are in turmoil. This morning I purposed myself to wake up and watch the sunrise, because it brings me such joy and such peace to experience the beautiful things that God has created. I wanted to take time out to appreciate the most beautiful part of a morning. Sometimes we don’t even give thought to the sunrise because we are either wanting to sleep in, or we’re in a hustle to get out. Today I encourage you to slow down, take a deep breath and take notice of the most beautiful things in your life that you were too busy to notice before now. As my mind was racing this week, I finally sat down and took time out to pray and seek the face of God yesterday, and in many ways, He led me to John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful. So, again, today I encourage you to be still and look around. Pay attention to the things God is trying to instill in you. Maybe it’s a scripture like mine was. Maybe it’s the beauty and peacefulness of the sunrise. Maybe it’s a picture that your little one drew for you. Look on the side of the road as your driving, maybe someone ran out of gas, or a young person is walking in this heat to make it to their job. Either way, slow down, shake someone’s hand, give your child a hug, tell your friends and family how you love them and enjoy the peace and the stillness of your day and watch for the things that the Lord places around you. His peace He leaves us, so allow yourselves to be a receiver of His peace today. 

                                                                            Karen Hurl