S05E051, Isn’t It Amazing… Part 2, Andy B 2 Minute Video
Life can be so busy at times we might wish to scream for someone to stop the world so we can get off. And, yet, God’s plans are never for us to be that busy.
A wise man once said how important it was to leave spaces in your day for the unexpected.
I think there’s two reasons for this.
Firstly, if we don’t leave any spaces in our day, we’ll be tired and exhausted because our pace is that of a machine. And, as good as we may be, we are not machines.
Secondly, if we don’t leave any spaces in our day, we actually prevent God from having the right to speak into our lives and alter the course of what we’re about. Whether this is because we simply don’t want God to interfere in our lives because of arrogance or fear, it’s the same end result – exhaustion and burn out.
Some of the worse things have led to great memory building moments – it doesn’t have to be great, for it to end great!
My good friend Andy Brown wrote a superb 40 Day Devotional which I’d encourage you to seek out and get for yourself. In one chapter Andy Brown points out how “Jesus stopped”.
And, if Jesus stopped, shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we keep spaces in our day to enjoy a rainbow, breathe in the scent from some trees or simply stop and watch the waves crashing into the shore.
These things are wonderful for our bodies – but it means stopping first.
So, try and build in moments when you can stop and let God guide those times. It’s amazing what we can do, if – and when – we allow God to be more involved in our daily lives.
He is a gentleman, so doesn’t often force His way into our lives. He can, He will – and He does. But, just like a gentleman, let’s not miss His kindness towards us.
Just a thought...
Andy B
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Transcript
[00:00:00] So another Andy B Two Minute video. And I'll just say this one more time, but we've got a brand new website for the BerryBunch. It was launched just a couple of days ago, and it is BerryBunch.org and you'll find everything you ever wanted and more on there.
[00:00:21] Let's move on to today's Andy B two minute video. Isn't it amazing? Part two.
[00:00:26] Now, I was reading this book the other day. It's from my good friend, Andy Brown. It's called A Journey With Jesus. I'll put a link to that so you can get hold of that. It's a fantastic 40 day devotional. It's as light as you wanna make it. It's as deep as you wanna make it. But this is from day 34, jesus stopped. And it really struck me the importance of stopping and being able to stop.
[00:00:47] You know, you, you think about driving a car, you're supposed to drive no faster than you can stop as far as you can see. Basically, if you're driving down a country lane, and you can't see around a country lane, you have to assume that you need to [00:01:00] stop. And, if you can, you can't stop before that bend if you have to, you're going too fast. It's really that simple. It's a bit like that in life.
[00:01:07] I'm gonna nick a bit from this, from Andy's book.
[00:01:10] If you want to be like Jesus, you have to be willing to set aside your plan for today and be willing to be interrupted for sale. As I say, I'll link to that book.
[00:01:21] We need to be willing to be interrupted. I said in yesterday's Andy B Two Minute Video about the idea. Isn't it amazing what happens when we let God into our plans. And it's even more amazing when we get into His plans? But, actually, isn't it amazing what happens when we allow opportunities to stop.
[00:01:39] In this world we live in it's so easy to be snow full on, and we squeeze every last bit of life out of our day. But we don't keep a moment spare to pray. We don't keep a spare moment to help one of the colleagues at work because their car's broken down.
[00:01:57] We have to get back. We've gotta do this, we've gotta do that. We have to [00:02:00] be there. We have to be here.
[00:02:02] But actually the wisdom would be leave spaces in your day. Don't squeeze so much in that you never have a chance to pause.
[00:02:13] Is your life too busy that you can't stop to help somebody? Then your life's too busy. It really is that simple! Jesus did it all the time. Even when He was tired, He was exhausted. When people came to Him, He made time for them.
[00:02:28] Do you have the capacity in your day to help other people? Because, ultimately, as believers of Jesus Christ, that's what we should be doing. Leaving gaps for other people to God, to speak into us, to help others.
[00:02:41] Just a thought.
Andy B, 02/02/2023