Dial it back and relax

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “God’s power in you and for you”

Our Bible verse for today: “God has made us plain and simple but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)

Our thought for today: “Dial it back and relax a little”

This morning, I want to continue our thinking from yesterday about the beauty and serenity that can come from living a simple and uncomplicated life of faithfulness and goodness. I love the way the translators of Today’s English Version of the Bible express Solomon’s thoughts in Ecclesiastes 7:29. There Solomon implies that God intends for us to have a life that is calm and peaceful rather than being too caught up in and consumed by the noise and busyness of life.

In Psalm 131:1-3 King David expressed a similar focus, “Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me. Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever more.”

Please don’t miss the fact that that was David, the king, who wrote those words about himself. As busy as he was, as much as he had going on in his world, and as much as his time and attention was sought by people and events, he had learned to quiet his soul and to rest in God. Remember, David was a man after God’s own heart. That’s where his focus was. His heart belonged to God and therefore his focus was on God.

God has not called us to live a hectic life at a frantic pace, always stressed and striving and straining. He has called us to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 42:10.) He simplified it further in Micah 6:8, “Mankind, he has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

I will leave you this morning with one of my favorite quotes from the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, from his Lord of the Rings series: “The future, for good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.”

I believe God wants you to slow down, relax, and enjoy your life. So, if you believe He is indeed sovereign over the affairs of your life, and you believe that He does have the power to orchestrate events in your life according to His perfect will, and if you really do believe He loves you and wants the best for you, then trust Him, dial it back, and relax a little.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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