On Life at Home

It all seemingly began
during my younger
years, when I made
several transitions in
life all in close proximity
to one other. A new
marriage, a move to a
new city, soon to be followed
by a job offer and
a new baby—the birth
of the baby coming just
days after starting the
new job. And though
I wasn’t very active in
ministry at that time, I
had been quite active
in previous years as a
church musician, and
so no doubt would be
again at some point.
Yes, all of that together
in such a short time
frame spelled chaos,
but I couldn’t see it back
then. I thought I could
do it all. Some people
can, perhaps, but I can
see now more clearly
that I was not one of
those.
Now from the outside
looking in, most people
would hardly believe
that I struggled to hold
it all together. They
saw me as successful,
smart and energetic
and simply couldn’t
fathom anything different,
even though I
would sometimes tell
them of my difficulties.
The problem? I was
living a life of upside
down priorities, a life
which had everything
else first and God last.
Oh, I certainly didn’t
intend for it to be that
way, but the reality of
the matter is that’s how
it was. Perhaps if you
have too many tasks,
too many headaches,
too many problems or
too many of anything
that you are allowing to
take over your life and
crowd out God, you can
relate.
So back to my life now
that I’m older and hopefully
wiser. How might I
be able to help someone
else? I am finally at a
point where I see what I
was missing. Though it
appeared I was putting
God first because I was
so active in ministry, I
really knew nothing of
what it meant to have
a true relationship with
Him. I’m not knocking
ministry by any means,
but it should definitely
be an outgrowth of relationship
with God, not a
replacement for it, as I
now see it was for me.
Now, I am certain that
most who are reading
this article would admit
that the Bible is pretty
clear on priority one:
GOD! It’s quite evident
in the scriptures. We
are to love Him with all
our hearts, souls, and
minds (Luke 10:27)
and love Him first, as is
summarized by the first
three commandments
(Exodus 20:1-7). I think
that on the concept of
loving God as top priority,
we can all agree.
Love Him, of course.
But what does it mean
to live God first, as is
referenced in the title of
this article? And how
do we do that? To some
it may seem a simple
matter of doing that
which they may already
do—praying, meditating,
talking to God. But
that’s only the beginning.
Living God first
means taking things to
the next level. It’s about
what happens after we
get off our knees and
on with our day. Do we
invite God to go with us
to work or leave Him
at home? Do we take
Him along for the ride
or ask Him to look the
other way while we yell
obscenities at drivers
that cut us off in traffic?
Do we keep Him with
us during those important
meetings or do
we release Him at the
door so we can fly off
the handle at anyone
who disagrees with us?
Yes, a true relationship
recognizes the presence
of the other One
at all times.
So we’re loving Him,
we’re living Him. We
have Him first in our
lives. How do we then
begin to get a chaotic life
back on track? Well,
the Bible offers much
guidance that helps us
sort through the rubble
of the wrongly prioritized
messes that we
sometimes make. The
scriptures say that not
only should we seek
Him, but we should
seek His kingdom, His
righteousness, His
will, His plans, and His
purposes. Doing this
allows us to get in line
with His priorities, and
when we are able to
do that, we begin to
become more in sync
with Him, and therefore
less out of sync with our
own lives.
Now I am not saying
that when our priorities
are in sync with His, our
lives will be trouble free,
or even totally chaos
free. But I am saying
that walking in line with
Him makes things oh so
much better. May I bring
to mind some words of
encouragement for the
journey from the Master
Encourager Himself:
Psalm 55: 22
“Cast your cares on the
LORD and he will sustain
you; he will never
let the righteous be
shaken”.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you
who are weary and
burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.”
As for me, I am still
learning how to curb