Unforced Rhythms Of Grace
Matthew 11: 28-30 (MSG)
‘Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.’
I like routine, and I like people (I’m 80% extrovert). Therefore, as you can imagine, lockdown was a struggle. My ‘perfect’ plan of how my life needed to look and my beautifully colour-coded calendar were both destroyed overnight. Yesterday we looked at trying to control situations to find comfort. We can do this with relationships too, and I found throughout the course of lockdown that I even tried to do this with my time with Jesus, being one of the few things left that I could have some say over…
‘If I read the Bible in 30 days then I’ve done well in faith for this month’ *
‘If I spend 45 minutes every morning in prayer, then go on a run, and then set my alarm to pray 3 more times, then I’ll have spent enough time with Jesus’
It got to a point where I was ‘ticking lots off’ in my devotional life but had this growing sense of frustration; this deep feeling of being dissatisfied, and, despite all I was doing, I still could not find peace.I realised eventually I was missing the point - God doesn’t want me to fit him into my nicely colour-coded calendar. He wants to be in relationship with me - and relationship doesn’t fit into a structure.
Yes, it’s wise to establish a routine, but don’t let it become a prison for your faith. Yes, there’s always more time we can spend with Jesus, but on the days when studying Hosea isn’t really your vibe, God gives us permission just to ‘keep company with him’, to live freely and lightly’. We are not just allowed, but encouraged, to mix it up. So why not go for a walk, or take a nap and think through life with him? Allow him to teach you ‘the unforced rhythms of grace!’
Prayer – God, reveal to me how you want to do life with me today. Remind me that there’s no pressure in our relationship. Speak to me as I go about my day and give me creativity in our relationship.
*I got to day 17 of the challenge and Jeremiah finished me off - kudos to anyone that makes it to the New Testament!