Extra Air

Extra Air

Every day I start out by packing 3 lunches. It is something that I, at times, dread. It seems like as the school year flies by, there is less and less time to get everything ready in the morning. Most days, I find myself stuffing the baggies into lunch boxes as the kids are running out the door.

One day last week, this is exactly where I found myself. I started rapidly zipping shut baggies and tossing them into their lunch boxes. But in my haste, I realized that I left too much air in the bags and couldn't stuff everything in. It made me have to go back and open every baggie, release the air, and start over again. Frantic and frustrated are probably really good descriptive words to describe my mood that day.

After the kids actually get out the door, I have about 5 minutes where I feel completely relieved. As I was thinking back over my baggie problem that day, I realized that the Christian life can be so much like a packed lunch.

Aren't there days when you just feel like you can't fit everything in? Seriously, my life is crazy busy sometimes! I am sure I am not alone in feeling that way. You have a pile of "baggies" that need to be fit into a "lunch box" and some days, they just don't fit. Can you see my point?

The more air that you let out of those baggies, the more room you have to pile all the stuff in. But the problem that will happen, and the risk that you are taking is that without the extra air, your chips might get squished, your sandwich squashed and your cookies crumbled. You will end up packing everything in, but what condition will it actually be in by the end of the day?

What would it look like if we compared that extra air to the Holy Spirit? Are there times when we neglect to take the Holy Spirit with us, releasing Him out of our activities? Instead of using Him for protection, we don't take the time to spend with Him, and rather quickly shove as many things into our days as possible? I know that I have gotten into ruts where this is my EVERY day life! The end result is a whole bunch of activities that are done with ½ a heart and look like a crushed bag of chips. It may get done, but in the mean time, I get exhausted & drained, even burnt out at times. Have you felt that way too?

What is the solution? For me, I believe wholeheartedly that we just need to learn to re-adjust our focus. So many of our problems come when we try to take on too much because we can't say no. We worry about hurting someone's feelings or failing them, when in reality, by taking on too much, we actually fail God, because we can't do everything with our whole hearts for Him.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

 

After reading this verse, do you feel that you do everything like you were doing it for the Lord? Or can you see an area that may be a baggie without any air? Are you in danger of being squished?

Check out what you put into your day. If the only way to fit everything in is by letting HIM out, I think it's time to reevaluate what is important and what is not. You don't want to end your day with a crumbled mess!