This year needed to be different. I have been praying for a few days about what to give up for Lent. It needed to be something more significant than sweets. It needed to be something that I could connect to our studies with "Not a Fan." I wanted to choose something that interferes with my relationship with Jesus. The idea is that I will tackle something that enslaves me, something that I feel captive to.
It's no secret that I have struggled to find balance with my work for the past two years or so. I realized last night that I have really never had that balance. I am just becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of time my career takes away from my family and the energy it takes away from my ministry. I have become so focused on the tasks at hand, I have even lost touch of the opportunities to minister (or lost sight of how I already do minister) in my job.
So, I am fasting work this Lenten season. I am getting down to 45 hours a week at the school. This will mean cutting off an hour every morning and at least half and hour every afternoon...plus the occasional 4 hour Saturday work session.
I know this is not possible without God's intervention. I need to be a better husband for my wife, a better father for my kids, and a better follower for my Lord. I need to find balance.
Danee, Elijah, and I are all giving up something that we feel gets in the way of our relationship with Christ...even if it is only occasionally. I am really excited for our family as I step confidently into this season, prepared to rely completely on God for healing, revelation, and growth.
My prayer tonight for our group is that each person will hear God's voice, deny him/herself, pick up his/her cross daily, and follow Him.
Beautiful! I would think James that as you go through this Lent season, it may be significantly easy for Satan to disguise distractions at work for what you may at the time feel as necessity. Meaning, as you try to get similar production results with less effort and time you will need clarity. Satan is really good at confusing us when it comes to our priorities isn't he? I think that this sounds like a great challenge for you. I pray that as you are maybe trying to let go of your "control" at work, you find that God can work through you to streamline the time necessary to make this a permanent result. Please keep us posted, and focus ( not that you already don't) on Christ always. Pray specifically for Christ to remove satans efforts of confusion and frustration with authority and it will be done. Maybe my reply has made this more serious than you had intended it to be but it sounds as if you are hoping for something fairly dramatic to change.
ReplyDeleteChat at ya soon!