“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ” ~ Frederich Buechner
ZECHARIAH 10-12
JOURNAL
When I read Buechner’s words, I cannot help but think how right he is, even from a health standpoint. So much of our stress comes from clenching onto control that was never ours to begin with. The body keeps score. Our minds race. Our hearts carry weight they were never meant to hold. But when we trust God, when we truly release the illusion that we are responsible for managing everyone else’s life, something inside us relaxes in a way that is both spiritual and physical. We breathe again. We soften. We heal.
“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you. Remember that the lives of others are not your business...”
They are not my business in terms of control or ultimate outcome but they are my business in terms of engaging and loving them as God directs. One of my lifelong struggles, and I think this is true for almost everyone, is the constant inner conversation. The nonstop stream of opinions, judgments, assessments, worries, and imagined scenarios. It is part of what makes us human, but it also pulls me out of the present moment and into a swirl of thoughts that are often neither kind nor helpful.
Years ago at Onsite, I learned some simple but powerful tools for quieting that noise. For the first time, I experienced stillness in my mind. It was like a deep exhale that I did not know I had been holding. Sadly, the chatter still shows up every day. But now I recognize it for what it is. And when I remember the truth behind Buechner’s words, I find perspective again. I am reminded that the world is bigger than my thoughts. God is at work in ways I cannot see. And I get to live in a time and place full of beauty, opportunity, and grace that people centuries ago could not have even imagined.
So I sit with gratitude. Gratitude for this life, this world, this small but meaningful place God has given me in it. I ask Him to open my eyes to the color, the variety, and the wonder that surround me each day. I ask Him to free my mind from worry and apathy so I can step into joy, purpose, and presence right here and right now.
And I hold on to Paul’s prayer in Colossians, that God would fill me with the knowledge of His will, strengthen me with His power, and grow in me patience, endurance, gratitude, and love. Because in the end, everything belongs to Him. Even my life. And trusting that truth might be the greatest relief my soul and my body will ever know.
When I read Buechner’s words, I cannot help but think how right he is, even from a health standpoint. So much of our stress comes from clenching onto control that was never ours to begin with. The body keeps score. Our minds race. Our hearts carry weight they were never meant to hold. But when we trust God, when we truly release the illusion that we are responsible for managing everyone else’s life, something inside us relaxes in a way that is both spiritual and physical. We breathe again. We soften. We heal.
“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you. Remember that the lives of others are not your business...”
They are not my business in terms of control or ultimate outcome but they are my business in terms of engaging and loving them as God directs. One of my lifelong struggles, and I think this is true for almost everyone, is the constant inner conversation. The nonstop stream of opinions, judgments, assessments, worries, and imagined scenarios. It is part of what makes us human, but it also pulls me out of the present moment and into a swirl of thoughts that are often neither kind nor helpful.
Years ago at Onsite, I learned some simple but powerful tools for quieting that noise. For the first time, I experienced stillness in my mind. It was like a deep exhale that I did not know I had been holding. Sadly, the chatter still shows up every day. But now I recognize it for what it is. And when I remember the truth behind Buechner’s words, I find perspective again. I am reminded that the world is bigger than my thoughts. God is at work in ways I cannot see. And I get to live in a time and place full of beauty, opportunity, and grace that people centuries ago could not have even imagined.
So I sit with gratitude. Gratitude for this life, this world, this small but meaningful place God has given me in it. I ask Him to open my eyes to the color, the variety, and the wonder that surround me each day. I ask Him to free my mind from worry and apathy so I can step into joy, purpose, and presence right here and right now.
And I hold on to Paul’s prayer in Colossians, that God would fill me with the knowledge of His will, strengthen me with His power, and grow in me patience, endurance, gratitude, and love. Because in the end, everything belongs to Him. Even my life. And trusting that truth might be the greatest relief my soul and my body will ever know.
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