School is getting ready to start here in Tennessee and our family will once again be in a routine. Each year, it seems that our family is moving further and further into the “new times” of life. We have new schools, new sports, and new activities. Days seems to move quickly during this time and schedules are not the only thing affected by routines. Relationships often are the first to get put on the back burner as we become numb to the mundane schedules. We work at the schedule and forget to work at the relationship.

Yet, relationships are exactly why we were created. God made us in His own image and He made us to relate to Him. How are we to handle this concept when we are in the throws of schedules and routines; when we are moving on up in the world of “new times”?

I fail. I put other things first. I aspire to the greatness of the “new” and figure I’ll get around to the “old” ways of life. Sometimes I venture out to explore what I feel might work instead of remembering that there is already a workable way in place. I try to replace the “old” with the “new” and in that replacement period I make things complicated and harder than they need to be.

Billy Graham is a fabulous man who listened to God’s calling. He held crusades around the world where he would preach to thousands of people at a time. I had the privilege of attending one of these crusades and I was shocked at the simplicity of the sermon. I mean, it was simply him telling a story from the Bible, and yet there were so many people who went to the altar. I was shocked! I expected a theologian who would preach deep thoughts. It was so simple. I thought I must have missed something, and, I did.

I missed the simplicity of God.

God is not something that I need to update every so often to make sure He fits in with society. He doesn’t need my help fitting in to the latest craze or fad. He is Who He is…He is “I AM”. I try to treat Him as “old” and in need of an update when in reality I’m just complicating Him. In the process, I’m making it harder for others to see Him as He is.

I’ve come to the conclusion in my life that if my relationship with God is not where it should be, then I have complicated things and my routine too much. At that point, it’s time for me to simplify my life, expectations, and/or schedule.

What does your routine say about you? Have you complicated it all so much and forgotten how simple it all can be? God is the great “Simplifier”. Give Him your routine and schedules. Bathe them in your prayers and always commit them to Him. Enter into His Presence and breathe in His simplicity.

What do you need to do to relax in God today?

© 2014 Susan M. Sims

Please follow and like us: