I’ve been trying to meet a friend for coffee for months but our schedules are like trains running on different tracks. Numerous times we’ve set a date and then had to cancel.
Isn’t there a unique kind of busy during mid-life?
a time for everything under the sun
It’s a season of adult children, grandchildren, aging parents. We’re deep into our careers and ministry. We show up every single day fully committed to being faithful to all of it; the full calendar and stretched timelines, the thin spread of ourselves over many wonderful things.
In an effort to make sure life runs smoothly it’s easy to neglect the most important thing of all, our soul.
take courage
I never realized this time of life would feel so full and so very foggy.
The world seems to be spinning faster than a merry-go-round. I’m tempted to think that life has to slow down before I can hear God’s voice but scripture tells me otherwise.
the messy middle
Remember Haggar in the wilderness?
Think of Ruth and Naomi husbandless and alone.
How about Rahab endangering her life for the spies?
What about Mary and Martha’s grief over Lazarus?
Messy, out of control situations. And yet God shows up right in the middle of the chaos.
cling to this
- God sees the things done in secret. He sees our efforts, achievements and faltering. We may not feel appreciated or understood at times, but we are deeply loved by our Heavenly Father.
- Although we have limitations, we are not a failure because of them. We weren’t created to be everything to everybody all of the time. We need rest. We require boundaries. Jesus binds up our broken humanity and all of its limitations with his grace and gently reminds us that his shoulders are wide enough to carry all of our burdens.
- Faith deepens in the mess. In this race called life, shotgun starts are exciting, the blue ribbons at the end are rewarding. But it’s right smack in the chaotic middle, when we feel most like giving up, that we learn to lean on Jesus.
Guilt tells you to tidy up your life and slow down in order to hear the voice of the Lord.
Psalm 121 tells us the truth. Lift up your eyes in this mid-life messiness and you will see him right in the middle of your storm, passionately preserving you.
Deeply loving you, Rhonda