THE ONLY ONE ON MY LIST

It's mid afternoon and all I accomplished so far today is prayer.  Unfolded laundry awaits.  Dirty dishes nag me every time I walk by them.  The carpet needs a sweeping.  I need to catch up.  I feel forever behind on my list of things that need done.  Get it done!  That constant voice rings in my head.

I look around and see everything that needs attention.  Every moment I could be busy with something.  When I finish one task, another is waiting.  But today I refuse.  I refuse to feel guilty.  I refuse to be part of the "Get it Done" mentality.  I'm spending the day with my Lord.  Not because I'm lazy, but because I need to be filled with His comfort and peace.  There's a longing in my heart today.  Staying busy can't satisfy it.

Perhaps our busyness has become a way to ignore how much we need God.  He created us to need Him, but we stuff that longing down deep under a pile of responsibility.  We hope that staying busy will bring satisfaction.  We tell ourselves that when we finish our tasks we will feel more comfortable.  We'll have peace as soon as we get it done.

We've replaced God with busyness.  And our tasks are never complete.  There is no peace when staying busy is your God.  The list keeps growing.  There is no rest.  We never feel like we've arrived.  We're forever trying to get there.  Always in a state of longing, reaching, wanting.  But the peace never comes.  The comfort eludes us.  We feel like it's never enough.  I'm never enough.

Busyness breeds feelings of inadequacy.  I look around my home and see dust, dishes, dog hair, and laundry.  I should be more on top of things.  But perhaps today God is telling me to forget these things.  Maybe I feel this way because I need a fresh filling of something more powerful than housework.  I can't ignore the emptiness in my soul or try to fill it with my checked off list of chores.  Today God is the only one on my list.  He's more satisfying than an empty kitchen sink, more comforting than clean carpet.

The world tells me to get it done and if I fall behind, then I'm a loser.  God tells me to seek Him and He will give me peace and all the desires of my heart.  I never feel guilty in His presence.  I'm always enough.  I don't have to perform to win His approval.  It's just me, without my list of accomplishments.  Only me, nothing else.  I can finally rest.  I guess I needed that today.