Resting in Spirit

   

"As life progresses in Spirit, it seems as if the carnal life becomes less existent; (time is of little value, dates and schedules flow without thought etc.). Daily, there are people around me that complain or comment about how busy their lives are. It seems like an excuse, yet it is a chosen life, a life of misery that the individual expresses with pride. I am intrigued by the subject of busy and saw that there are a slew of articles about this subject and that there is a movement to expose busyness as a disease! Along the same line, there is a movement to live the opposite of busy as well; called Essentialists. 

          
This “busy” frenzy has brought back memories of my life a number of years ago and it gives me a weird feeling for some reason. I am interested why this feeling and would like to share a bit about my life and what the Holy Spirit may be doing.

      
 I had a small  business that I loved and was able to see it grow over the years with success. Goals were in writing and reaching them was paramount. The busiest seasons would see upwards of 50 happy employees. I was busy and everyone who knew me was amazed how busy the company could be. Early on in the business, we landed commercial work that could only be done at night time and we gladly took the challenge. One crew would work from 3Am till 7Am each morning on the commercial sites and the other crews from 7:30 am till 7:30 pm each day on residential sites. I was on every site, sold all the jobs and collected all the money which was typically from 7pm till 9 pm.. I would get to the office around 9pm and spend a few hours doing all the paper work. I was busy, this was before the days of cell phones so during the days I would jump in the office for a few as well to get the phone calls done. I also went to Church on sundays (after setting up a crew or two) and then returned to the field after having lunch with church folk. My work weeks were averaging 115 hours. I had the excuse that we only could do this work 7 months per year and felt successful because I could buy new equipment and the employees could by houses. Enough said, I was busy.

       I got sick one spring and without me, the business floundered . After being away for months, I returned and learned to delegate. We made more money with less employees and only worked about 70 hours a week. After a number of years, there was a change in my spirit during a pivotal conversation with my wife. She said “God gave us what we have” and I vehemently replied ; “only my blood sweat and tears gave us these things.” God used my wife to expose the identity crisis within. The business was to validate my ability and my ability was to validate my business. The validation was to impress others and in turn enhance the business. A few years later, I saw the futility and emptiness in setting and reaching goals and promptly left the 'ego-booster' behind and went to a bible college and seminary (cemetery). The business is still thriving with a great reputation and I am happily not associated in any way.

   
 Looking back I have no regrets. The busy life gave me a basis to make decisions the way I wanted to make decisions; gave a power over my sphere of influence while validating my standing and importance; with my peers, myself and in the community as well. I was able to choose who to talk to when I wanted, distributors wined and dined us and gave exciting promotional gifts and exotic trips.  I clearly now see that the busyness of life was the drug of choice and I had been an addict. Yes, I strongly believe that the “high” that busyness brings is a hypnotic state of being that has the westernized society in its' grips.

I liked the following question from 'an article: “What happened to a world in which we can sit with the people we love so much and have slow conversations about the state of our heart and soul, conversations that slowly unfold, conversations with pregnant pauses and silences that we are in no rush to fill?”

      There is an identity crisis epidemic that is disrupting lives while being celebrated by society. 'Who you are' has been officially tied to what you do, what you know and who you know. This translates to how much money I can spend and what I have to show for it. None of this is bad in and of itself, but the heart behind it is what is desperate. It is the carnal man attempting to find purpose and then validating that purposed purpose. What is unseen, is that the purpose, no matter how noble, is a smoke screen and the journey to fulfilling the purpose is what blinds us to Spirit truths. Who wants to relinquish control over ones hard earned life? NO MAN DESIRES THAT! But the fact remains, the Holy Spirit desires us to simply abide in the peace, presence and gifts that are revealed.

    Being busy has become an art of deception to elevate ourselves, manipulate others and portray a control that we have which is just a skin deep facade. One article states: “The art of busyness is to convey genuine alarm at the pace of your life and a helpless resignation, as if someone else is setting the clock, and yet simultaneously make it clear that you are completely on top of your game. These are not exactly humble brags. They are more like fretful brags, and they are increasingly becoming the idiom of our age. Busyness is a virtue, so people are terrified of hearing they may have empty time, It’s the equivalent of being told that you’re redundant or obsolete”

       Being busy comes from the 'pride of life' and there seems to be no cure other than trying not to be busy. The issue is not the schedule, it is not what needs to be done, it is not the demands that life places on us, it is a heart condition. It is an orphan heart trying to be accepted. Of course we have lots to do and only 24 hours a day to do it, but what choices are we making? Are our intentions to better ourselves? Are our choices trying to make us feel better? 

1John 2:16 says: For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 

 

     So, looking back over my busy years with thankfulness; it is easy to see that I was living in the lusts of life, operating out of pride. This was fueled by a Godly purpose (I supported charities and missionaries and poor less fortunate people) but there can be no other conclusion than my busy life came from a fear of being exposed for whom I really was. My question to busy people is, “who are you”?

 

        One could write volumes on the non-busy life in Spirit and how it is in direct conflict with this world system and the present religious system.. It would do no good for anyone, as becoming free is a journey for each individual to travel. I never heard of Holy Spirit life until recently and never admitted I had an identity issue until the Holy Spirit revealed the fear within me. Being very involved with busy people now, it is crystal clear how these friends are trapped in a life of fear, trying to prove to someone that they have value. 

 

Matt 6:31-32 So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

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