Overwhelmed
This is really hard for me to say but I am overwhelmed. For about a month now I have worked 12-14 hours a day, Monday through Friday. I’ve led two Refresh groups to the finish line, we started construction on Haven and had an emotional roller coaster trying to get ONE DAY off the ground. Not to mention keeping a day job that is pretty intense right now. I feel physically and emotionally exhausted. It’s really hard for me to say this out loud because if sort of feels like the opposite of what we preach at Seek Well.
Or is it?
Ecclesiastes 3 says “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity...a time to plant and a time to up-root...a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build...a time to embrace...a time to search...a time to tear and a time to mend”. In other words, the writer is saying that there is a season to work hard, plan ahead and push towards the dreams that God has birthed in us. There is nothing inherently wrong with working hard. I think the danger simply comes when the work takes over and we lose our rhythm.
As I think back on the last month, I realize that my perspective has not been quite right. There is no doubt that the last month has been insanely busy. Too busy really and there is much to learn about making better choices around my schedule for the future. But that is not the whole story. Just because I’m feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean the narrative I’ve been telling myself matches the reality of the situation. In fact, I have had one of the best 6-8 weeks of spiritual growth in my life. Not only did I keep my rhythm but Jesus spoke loud and clear many times. He showed up in our darkest hour to allow us the ability to pull off ONE DAY. He spoke some deep truths into my life that is quite literally changing me (yet again). Best of all, my family is thriving right now, something that seems hard to believe with the pace lately.
In the midst of the crazy, I took an evening to myself at Haven to just be still. I was able to get away for 5-6 hours to jump in the canoe and just drift off at the lake. In my reflection, I was doing my best to shut out the noise, to turn off the check-list and just be still. In that moment, I found my creator speaking something quite unexpected. He simply said, “you kept your rhythm”. All of a sudden I was overwhelmed again but for all the right reasons, completely engulfed with the love of King Jesus.
The writer of Ecclesiastes also says another thing in chapter three verse 7. He says there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak”. You guessed it, the wisest man in all of history says there is a time to “slow it down” and listen.
Our message at Seek Well is not that you should find the “perfect balance”, get off social media or go off the grid. Quite the opposite really. We want you to dream big dreams and chase after a life to the full. We simply want you to encourage you to do it with the spiritual discipline of listening to Jesus. We believe that if we can make space each day to listen to the King, that he will speak loud and clear, guiding us as we partner with Him to make a difference. We believe that when we listen, he changes us and restores us into the man or woman we were designed to be.
So yes, I’m overwhelmed. Thankfully, it’s a season that is about to end. But let me just encourage you, as Jesus encouraged me, to let go of the perfect balance and to simply find the rhythms of stillness that work for you. It’s possible and absolutely necessary if we want to live free and light.
Seek Well,
Tim
