Living the Reflective Life…
Reflection:
What replenished me and what drained me today (the joy quotient)
I’ll never forget a lunch I had with Pastor Loran Livingston early in my tenure at the Fort Mill Church of God. At the time, our church had grown to around 500 and I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t know what to do.
Pastor Livingston was pastoring a church running over 5000, I thought to myself, “How does he do it?!”
I wanted an answer to that question, so armed with my long list of questions I showed up for an hour of Q&A over lunch. He said a lot of good and helpful things but it was the last thing that he said that has stayed with me all these years. Just as I was sliding out of the booth where I had been sitting he reached over, laid a hand on my arm, and said, “One more thing David, whatever you do…have fun.”
I have never forgotten that remark and have made it a litmus test for how I am doing in life.
To be honest I have trouble having fun. I have no trouble working, worrying, pushing, striving and trying to drain every ounce of opportunity out of every minute; but fun? Now that’s another story.
- Grandchildren make me smile!
That is why today’s reflection question is so important. Over the years, I have discovered that you can get in a rut and not even know it. You can get so used to being unhappy that it becomes normal.
But my dear friend it is NOT normal and it is not how God designed you to live.
Work? Yes, by all means. Being productive? Yes by all means. But living under the constant pressure of having to do more, be more and give more is not God’s design for your life.
Never laughing, never playing, and never having fun is not God’s design for your life.
Just like it is not normal for a child to not have fun, it is not normal for God’s children to not have fun. That is why this final refection question is so important.
When I was a little boy it was not uncommon to hear parents say to their children, “Are you getting to big for your pants?” They were not talking about being overweight; they were talking about a child trying to act like they were older than they were.
Let me remind you that you are Father God’s child. At the end of the day, it is God that will take care of things, not you.
Therefore, I encourage you to take time each day to ask yourself today’s reflection question. If you find yourself in a rut that is
draining you, stop! Get out, make changes, and refuse to live your life without having fun.
And don’t tell me you can’t have fun. Just watch a child. They can take a stick, a string, or some other miscellaneous item and play an hour. I bet you could too!
Let’s have fun today!:)
dlkemp
