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Devotional

Keep it Simple

by KAY L. WISDOM Adult children overseas Balancing ministry, family, & life Expectations Comparison Purpose God’s guidance & direction Overwhelmed
Keep it Simple
“’The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’ ‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.’”
Mark 12:29-32

Where did the time go? One minute you’re chuckling at her first passport picture then it seems like you’re filling out college applications! There’s a lot that happens in between, but it can feel like an eternity in the blink of an eye. My daughter recently left our home to begin a new life in her “passport country.” The foreboding question she often has been asked is, “What’s next? What are your plans?” For any person, that line of questioning can be intimidating. I saw in my daughter’s eyes the pressure and the worry that what she had planned was subpar to expectations that people may have had for her. Would people expect her to say she was attending a ministry school? Signing up for some sort of ministry venue? Or perhaps pursuing a degree at a university?


This type of pressure is not isolated to graduates. We feel it, too. What’s ministry going to do next? Where is your next assignment? How many people are you ministering to? The numbers and the plans are all-consuming and somehow we feel the pressure that it has to meet some unforeseeable standard. All these decisions and expectations can render us indecisive and cause us to feel foolish. That plea for wisdom and direction can feel so desperate. Wondering how everyone will perceive our decisions and actions can be paralyzing. I wonder if Jesus ever felt that pressure or perhaps He was so secure in His mission and His relationship with His Father that those questions fell to the wayside. 


Jesus was asked once what was the most important thing to do. Because following the commandments was so important to the Jewish people, one of them asked which commandment was most important. I would have seen that akin to being asked, “So, what are you going to do now? What’s going to be the most impactful?” etc. His answer was so simple yet so full of wisdom. To paraphrase, “Love God with all your heart and love people well.” 


Love God. Love people. It does not have to be complicated. It does not have to have a grand 10-year plan supplied with graphs and contemporary strategies. Plans are great. Goals are important. When decisions leave you clueless, you can’t go wrong if your actions reflect your love for God and show your love of God to others. By loving Him, our actions will in turn love people well. The other stuff is just details. The results will fall according to His plan, not necessarily ours. We have placed so much importance on the details that we sometimes miss the goal. Keep it simple, my child. Love God. Love people. In all you do in life, that’s what is most important.


Closing Prayer
Father, In a world of abundant opportunities and pressures, help us to keep the main thing the main thing. Show us when we over emphasize the plan and lose sight of what is truly important. Thank you for loving us so well. May we love you and your people well in return. Amen.
Resources
Book: Compelled by Love by Heidi Baker This is an amazing story of how loving the person in front of you can have long-lasting impact. Read through the stories of Heidi Baker and how she loved people illustrates that our “mission” can be simple.
Question for Reflection

What can you do to love God and people well today?

Comments
Kay L.
September 16, 2021

Show patience to those I meet on the street, to those in my home, and to myself. Cultural differences, personality differences, and my own self expectations can drive me batty some days. If I try to see them how God sees them, perhaps I’ll have more patience with them.