Earlier this week, I found myself to be drifting a bit mentally – less focused, questioning what I should be working on, anything but efficient. At the end of the day, I looked back and wondered if I had really accomplished anything at all.
The previous several weeks had been filled with significant events and moments that had required planning, focus, and the efforts of many. We had held a wildly successful week of Vacation Bible School at the church, then put together a great celebration of the 145th anniversary of the church, and then survived the busiest weekend of the year for the island, the Independence Day holiday weekend. For nearly a month, there was no question about what needed to be worked on, no opportunity to drift for more than a moment, because these dates loomed large. Getting through those events well was cause for moments of celebration and an opportunity to catch our collective breaths.
The challenge that I was facing was that I wasn’t going from extreme busyness to a vacation, where I could allow my mind to be fully given over to the idea of relaxation. Rather, I was just going back to the regular rhythm of life. Only the various spare moments that had just recently been filled with thoughts about how to get through the days and weeks now had nothing to focus on, because my regular routine didn’t require the same level of concentration. Those moments became distractions, which became periods of ineffectiveness, which bled into my overall effectiveness, which led me to wonder if I was getting anything done.
Fortunately, I know that this isn’t something unique to me. The great prophet Elijah went through something similar, when his greatest triumph as a prophet of God was followed by the lowest recorded point of his ministry. Elijah went from conquering the false god of Baal and his priests on Mt. Carmel to fleeing for his life into the wilderness following death threats from Queen Jezebel. One moment that required total focus on God to accomplish the task, followed by a different moment that seemingly allowed for a different focus, which then gave plenty of room for doubt and fear to creep in. If it could happen to Elijah, then there’s no shame in seeing that it could happen to anyone else.
The answer to that temporary funk was to realize that I have a choice about where my thoughts are focused, even when I have time on my hands. I can decide to let my thoughts go down one of the many rabbit holes that social media provides, or towards unanswerable questions regarding the future, or second-guessing countless decisions or interactions from the past. Or I can follow the advice of the Apostle Paul, who wrote the following to the church in Philippi: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.
I will accomplish less this week, because that is the nature of this week. But thanks to Paul’s words, I am now keeping my eyes and my mind on the things that matter most, for that is where my true purpose is found.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron