ABCs of Spiritual Formation: F is for Finite

The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

-- Acts 17:24-25

F is for Finite

LIMITS

Help me out here.

I'm wondering how widespread this sensation is among humans today.

When you are sitting around doing nothing, do you feel guilty?

Is it okay to be unproductive? Of course, it is okay at times, but I'm asking if it "feels" okay to you when you're in it.

The topic of our finiteness or limits is not an easy one to discuss because it is obvious and something we try to avoid and definitely not something we appreciate. Offer a course on “Living Within Limits“ and few people sign up. You must give it a catchier marketing title that captures the benefits, sort of a bait and switch technique.

Whenever we read or hear about limits, we nod our heads in agreement and feel the pull to slow down and add margin, only to continue our 100mph lives unaltered. The power of our orphan mentality telling us we only get value from our work along with the powerful current of the societal river pushing the same message keeps us swimming with all our might for fear of drowning if we stop or even slow down.

Guess what? You already know this, but it's all a lie. God calls us and empowers us to go against the flow like salmon.

AN OBJECT IN MOTION STAYS IN MOTION

In this case, going against the flow means slowing down, making space, creating margin, and enjoying God's rest. It actually takes a lot more work initially to make the change then to continue going with the flow. This is true in the physical world as well as the world of our routines and rhythms.

But let's be honest. Most of us aren't making any changes. Why not?

These reasons that come to mind:

Deep down at a soul level, slowing down and doing less is extremely uncomfortable. We base our value on our doing which means doing less lowers our value and nobody wants that.

The needs out there are so great, and the multitudes are lost, and the work is never-ending. There are always going to be more people in need, more people dying apart from Christ, more children being trafficked, more women being abused, more men lost in pornography, more people stuck in poverty, more, more, more, and God calls us to get involved and make a difference. How can we slow down? How can we be so self-centered?

We are alone in this battle. Our community is not helping us slow down. In fact, our church keeps asking us to do more. Everyone we know is racing like we are so why change and how would we with no models.

We have an enemy, and he wants us to die on the hamster wheel feeling like we will never do enough.

HOPE

Yet, there is hope. God is bigger than all these hurdles. If we want to grow in Christlikeness, this is a vital step we need to take.

JESUS’ EXAMPLE

First, Jesus rested on the Sabbath. Jesus' life was full, but he made space for his Father and his community. If your picture of Jesus is of constant busy-ness, take some time to read the Gospels and recalibrate. True, some days he was going from morning until evening with no break. We see this when his family came to "rescue" him because he didn't even have time to eat. But many days he was traveling by foot from town to town. He was never in a hurry. At least one day a week he did no work. He had no phone or electricity which means the idea of late nights were very different. I'm not saying we should get rid of all electronics. My point is we need to be clear that our always connected, never stopping, on the go, busy lives do not reflect Jesus' rhythms. At the same time, I'm not calling us to a napping all day, acting like we are retired life, either. Jesus always did what he saw his Father doing, and he calls us into the same with-God life, abiding in him. To do that, we must take time to listen and reflect in between doing and even in our doing we need to maintain a listening ear.

GRACE ABOUNDS

But before I go further in this, since you may not know where I'm coming from, I want to back up a step and make clear that we are walking in grace. Slowing down can just become another works-based righteousness endeavor, another way to earn God's favor. It can be quite subtle. We are no better or worse because we slow down or stay busy. It isn't about earning or value or righteousness or sainthood or devotion. It is simply about receiving the gift God is holding out to us. The gift of entering his rest. This rest is internal and means we are not restless. I assume you know that inner restlessness that breeds impatience at stop lights and any other time we must wait. It is also external and physical and means we can stop our bodies from going and doing and instead enjoy just being. But we live in a broken world, and it will never be perfect. We are works in process, experiencing deeper levels as we grow and mature. The reward is more of Jesus and blessing for ourselves and those around us as his living water flows out of us.

So, take some time and ask God what he wants you to do with your schedule. Ask him what he calls you, what your true identity is. Then, ask him how to live it. This isn’t a 2-minute exercise. Set aside an hour and sit with God. Read the Bible. Listen to his Spirit and let him speak truth to you and then enjoy slowing down. Maybe this weekend take a Sabbath day of rest as a gift from God. Think about what it would look like to have more margin three months, six months, a year from now. Invite others to join you in pursuing it and share the journey with them. Enjoy being finite and let God be infinite for you.

“All pain triggers a reminder, deeper than thought, buzzing through blood and bone, that we are fragile and finite.”

― K.J. Ramsey