How many times have you said “I wish there were just a few more hours in the day”… “I need more days in the week!”… or “If only I could clone myself…”

I know I’ve said one of those things practically every other day.  Sometimes it DOES feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.  Forget 24/7, sometimes it feels like I need 26 hours in the day and 9 days in the week!  Or, if I could just have one me to do the work stuff, one me to take care of the health stuff, one me to get the personal stuff done and then an extra me to have fun… things would be perfect!

I recently made a lot of changes in my life to focus on the things that are really important to me, like downsizing all of my belongings, moving into a mortgage-free tiny house, focusing on my health and making writing my full time career.  So at least the things that are keeping me busy now are things I actually want to be doing.

But even so… the idea of being busy, busy, busy all the time has somehow become a positive thing in our world.  The busier you are, the better.  And if you’re not busy… you’re most likely going to get a few puzzled looks from people who wonder what exactly you’re doing with your time.

Yet this is exactly the opposite of how God wants us to live.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” But when was the last time you were truly still?  

God didn’t intend for us to live a life of chaos, stress and anxiety.  He wants us to be still and let Him be in control.  He wants us to experience His peace.  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27 NIV)

But the devil would have us do otherwise.

In the story of “The Devil’s Convention” by an unknown author, Satan tells his demons to go out and distract people from their relationship with God.  He instructs them to do this by:

• Tempting them to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow
• Persuade them to work long hours so they’re hardly at home with their families
• Keep the kids distracted with video games and TV shows
• Overstimulate their minds with TV, music, movies and computers
• Bombard them with magazines, junk mail, billboards and “24 hour news”
• Make them focus on images of emaciated models as “beautiful” so they focus on the exterior and not the interior
• Fragment the family dynamic
• Bring discord, tension, stress and anxiety

Just keep them busy, busy, busy… Being Under Satan’s Yoke.

In today’s world of mortgages, credit cards, workaholics, X-Box, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, iPads, smartphones, US Weekly, CNN, the Kardashians, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc., etc., etc…. sure seems like he’s right on track!

Of course I’m not saying all of these things are bad.  I watch Hulu and have a smartphone.  And I use some social media for my writing/blog, but… they are NOT my life.

I don’t aspire to be busy.  I don’t aim to be stressed.  I don’t care to follow the crowd.

I aim to live simply and help others.  I aspire to feel the peace and stillness that God provides.

I want to live life in the present moment, free from distractions.  I choose to look up from my phone or computer screen.

I choose to look UP.