God...I'm 'k-kinda busy' (Telephone by Lady Gaga)

As I was listening to the lyrics of Lady Gaga's song Telephone yesterday, I realized that I've been giving God the same line: "You called, I can't hear a thing."

Why can't I hear anything?

"I got no service in the club..."

Yes, God, I'm just too busy right now. I doing so many things at the moment that I'm just unavailable.

"Wha-Wha-Waht did you say, huh?"

I'm not sure what you want from me at the moment, God.

"Your're breaking up on me; I can't hear you."

You see, "I'm kinda busy.

K-kinda busy
K-kinda busy
Sorry, I cannot hear you, I'm kinda busy.

Could you hold on, God? I just need a moment to catch my breath.

Just a second,
It's my favorite song they're gonna play
And I cannot text you with
A drink in my hand, eh?

Yes, I'm doing too much right now to slow down and spend time with you. I might drop something, and I need time to relax.

"You shoulda made some plans with me,
You knew that I was free.
And now you won't stop calling me;
I'm kinda busy."

God, I'm doing all the things you've called me to do and I just time for anything more...

"Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna think anymore!"

I'm feeling very worn out...

"I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.
Stop callin'', stop callin,"

God, I'm just too wrapped up in other things and just don't have any more of myself to give.

"I don't wanna talk anymore!
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor."

God, I don't want to be too busy for you anymore but my flesh is weak is being draw to other things. It's not that I don't want to talk, I've just got so many others things on my mind. I've got big plans, you see...

Lord, please, awaken my soul to your calling. Give me a desire to want you above anything in this world.

John Piper, in his book God is the Gospel, includes a section from a sermon by J.C. Ryle called “Christ Is All” based on Colossians 3:11. In it he said:

"But alas, how little fit for heaven are many who talk of ‘going to heaven’ when they die, while they manifestly have no saving faith, and no real acquaintance with Christ. You give Christ no honor here. You have no communion with Him. You do not love Him. Alas! what could you do in heaven? It would be no place for you. Its joys would be no joys for you. Its happiness would be a happiness into which you could not enter. Its employments would be a weariness and burden to your heart. Oh, repent and change before it be too late!"

John Piper then expounds that

"Nothing fits a person to be more useful on earth than to be more ready for heaven. This is true because readiness for heaven means taking pleasure in beholding the Lord Jesus, and beholding the glory of the Lord means being changed into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18). Nothing would bless this world more than more people who are more like Christ. For in likeness to Christ the world might see Christ."

Oh Lord, draw me to you. Awaken in my heart a passion to know you and treasure you above all things on this earth. Open my eyes to behold your goodness and embrace you above your great gifts. In Jesus name, Amen.

Quotes that Made Me Think In March

"Lies can be as simple as you want. Truth is complicated" -Eric, my co-worker and friend

"I like type A personalities. If there the world were only full of type B personalities, where would the world be?" -my friend Beth (Type B personality who's humble and her love for people transcends personality quirks)

"Marriages are team efforts." - Gary North

"The greatest threat to you leading a fulfilled life is a misguided pursuit of happiness that blinds you to the possibility of a more meaningful Hero's Journey"- from the Acton Institute's Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (A Cautionary Tale)

"Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." (Ps 121:1-3)

"Something's not right" - my co-worker Deb

"I want to love people for who they are" - my friend Beth

"Who you marry will be the most important decision you will every make. It's great that you still get to make that decision." -June Silber

"Christ stands between us, and we can only get in touch with our neighbors is through him that is why intercession is the most promising way to reach our neighbors, and corporate prayer offers in the name of Christ, the purest form of fellowship. -Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

"We cannot rightly acknowledge the gifts of God unless we acknowledge the mediator for who sake alone they are given to us. -Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

The Significance of Serving

Are you serving--loving--people in your family? your neighborhood? your church? your life?

"God sees our care for those around us. He places a high value on the meals we make for our hungry family, the care we give to our sick relatives and neighbors, the countless drinks of water we serve to our children and grandchildren, and the welcome we offer to people by opening our home. Jesus made it clear that when we provide for others' daily needs, we're giving directly to him. We serve Christ by serving those he loves" (128) .

"...within the limitations of our hours and days we can make significant contributions by caring for those God loves. We serve in an upside-down kingdom where God is pleased with the small and unseen, with the widow's mite, the mustard seed, and the loaves and fishes. Faithfulness in the little things will make the invisible kingdom bright and visible. It is not for us to strain again the limits boundaries that God put in place at the creation of the world and called "good." By his power and for his glory he brings the increase. And because he cares for us, we can cast our anxieties upon him and run to him to find rest for our weary bodies and souls" (129).

Andi Ashworth, Real Love for Real Life: The Art and Work of Caring