Clay in the Hands

One of the books I am reading right now is a book I have read before. It had such impact on me that it has become one that I re-read every couple of years. The book is titled, The Contemplative Pastor, by Eugene Peterson. A few weeks ago I picked it back up to read it again and thought I’d finish it in a couple of days. But something I read at the beginning of the book has been weighing on me for more than two weeks and I have come to a standstill in moving forward in the book.

The issue that has me caught is one of busyness.

When we greet one another and ask how the other is doing, more times than not, it seems the response is “busy.” Our culture celebrates busyness because it equates activity with productivity. But when we really dissect this thought, we quickly realize that being busy does not mean we are being productive – and even if we are being “productive,” it may not be a healthy kind of productivity.

It is like heading down the highway and catching all the green lights and making “good time.” That is all well and good assuming we are on the highway that leads to where we want to go. Making good time to a destination we never intended would be pointless.

In the first chapter of the book, Peterson quoted an early church father, Hilary of Tours, in regard to this idea of being busy – particularly as it relates to pastors. But I think the idea is valid to all followers of Jesus. Hilary is quoted as saying that busyness is “a blasphemous anxiety to do God’s work for him.”

When I read that statement – or indictment rather – I stopped in my tracks. How often do I put my head down and just work through the day doing good things with little to no time spent just being still and listening to Jesus? I crave time for reflection but I never make time to do it. I get caught up in the relentless pursuit of accomplishment and checking off the boxes on my To Do list.

To think that I stay so busy because somehow I have come to believe that I need to do God’s work for Him is convicting. Does God really need me to do His work for Him? Of course not!

Now I firmly believe that we were created as God’s masterpiece to do good works that He set out for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), but when we lose sight of why we do those things, and even more importantly the relationship that prompted us to do them in the first place, we have crossed into the blasphemous anxiety that Peterson talks about.

So today S L O W D O W N and reflect. Reflect on the goodness of God. Reflect on the hope of our salvation. Meditate on Psalm 46:10 today, Be still and know that I am God.

God does not need us to do His work for Him but He does invite us to join Him in His work. Focus on the difference today.