Focused Time

This past week as part of the prayer week i have been taking some time away from recreational activities at home at the beginning of the day. This includes things like video games and getting online. Instead i have been spending more time in the word, praying, and spending more focused time with family.

I find that whenever i do things like this, it always helps me in my relationship with God and my family. I'm not as distracted by unnecessary crap and tend to be able to focus more on God, family, and resolving my own issues.

In spite of that, so often after these types of fasting times, i always seem to (eventually) go back to my old habits. Then when a time of fasting comes again i dread its coming. It takes a while to really get into it, and i am so resistant to it.

As i have been writing and processing this i have come to two separate conclusions:
1) I see it as a time of fasting. It is something that i see as a limited time thing. I look to the conclusion and don't expect it to be something that lasts. When the time is over and i have an urge to get back into my old habits, there is nothing stopping me. Whereas if my focus instead is, this is what i am going to do, and i will not be returning to my old way of doing things it becomes an issue of a changing a habit / lifestyle instead of a temporary thing. As a result the resolve is to continue.
2) My other thought was that this is a battle of the flesh. I John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." The battle is a desire of the flesh (having "fun" instead of being responsible) that wars for dominance in my life. I go back to these things because they are fun and a distraction instead of being something that takes effort and doesn't lead to more immediate gratification.

So now the issue is, where do i go from here. The time of prayer & fasting is at a close, but should this change in actions end?

Image from Old Shoe Woman used under cc license.

Do We Invest it, or Do We Spend it?

How much of what we do in our lives is nothing more than extraneous crap? How much time do we spend just doing things for the sake of doing them and because we don't really have to put any effort into them, but that don't really do anything with any lasting significance? What happens when our jobs are there only to pay the bills? Do we create ways to have significance in other areas of our lives, or do we come home, vedge out in front of the tv, eat dinner, and go to bed? Where is that extra time spent? Do we invest it, or do we spend it?

I know it's easy when the work/jobs of life have worn us out to just let go and turn our extra time into "me time". It's the end of the day, everything has piled up, and it doesn't seem like it really matters all that much. I've been there. I've done that. Everyone has done that. Most us us still do it (myself included). What i've found over the years is that when i do that... When i spend my time just as "me time" i tend to get grumpy and easily irritated. I spend that time doing things that i know are pointless and useless, and my attitude shows it. When i turn around and instead invest that time in other people and other situations, i tend to have a much clearer and hopeful attitude about life. That time invested no longer seems like time wasted, and life has much more of a purpose.

Of course that in turn creates other problems like the pointless mediocrity of a purposeless job becomes that much more difficult when it is no longer surrounded by more pointless mediocrity. I guess you just can't win for losing. I so can't wait to get back into a job that actually has a purpose.

Image from Bright Meadow used under cc license.

Rush Hour Prime Time

Our (western, first world country) world is in such a rush. People running here and there. A thousand things have to get done in the day, and when the day is done there are a hundred other things that we want to do. We plunge onto the couch to watch tv. We sit down at the computer to read and surf the net. We IM each other to stay in touch. Everything is about staying busy doing things.

That's not to say that doing things is necessarily a bad thing. The issue isn't so much that the things that we do are not so good so much as that we are currently in a society and mentality in which we have surrounded ourselves with so much that we need to do that we don't even have the time to sit back and think. Our lives and society are in such a state of motion that we can't be at rest. Even when we are at rest we are actively doing something. There have been times when just about every one of us have come home from work or whatever has been going on and just sat down in front of the TV and mindlessly watched TV. It was not because there was necessarily something that we want to see, but because we wanted something to do and TV was better than nothing.

Many times we would rather watch nothing worth watching or keep busy doing unnecessary tasks rather than be alone with our thoughts. It's easier to fill our heads with pointless, unhealthy, and sometimes destructive views than to stop and pay attention to what's going in our own heads. At times for me that is a good thing. I can't always trust where my mind will go if i let it wander. At the same time i tend to miss out on so much when i'm completely focused on things and everyday life. It is my alone time, my time just focused and meditating on God and His word that brings peace and much needed rest. It is during the quiet times and the times that i'm not doing a hundred things at once that i can focus on God and what He has to tell me. It's at these times that God speaks and i get a completely new view of what is significant and important.

I think that that's why our world is so focused on keeping busy. The enemy knows that when we are too busy being busy we don't have time to reflect on God or our own issues. We become tired, we can't stay focused, we become overwhelmed, and the cycle repeats itself.

Image from efleming used under cc license.