Courageous Simplicity by (In)courageSample

DAY 4

I’m tired,” I confess to friends over lunch one day. 

“What’s going on?” they ask.

 “I don’t really know,” I say as I shrug. 

That night I pull out my art journal, plug headphones into my ears, and grab a marker. I want to think through my life and especially my work. I begin to put “writer” at the top of the page, because that’s my title. But as I lean toward the paper, I feel a sense of hesitation and I silently ask God, What do you want me to write in that spot? 

I hear one word in response: worshiper. 

Suddenly I know why I’m so exhausted. I’ve switched from being a worshiper to a worker. This isn’t the first time it’s happened. Throughout my life when I feel pressure mounting and expectations building, I tend to have one response: try harder. 

Yes, I should have caught on to that pattern by now. But I’m a bit of a slow learner in this area it seems. 

Maybe you have one of those areas in your life too? Thankfully, we serve a God of grace. A God who chases us down right in the middle of all our wild and weary running. A God who speaks life and peace and rest into us. A God who wants our hearts more than our hands. 

I look back down at my journal and instead of writing writer or worker, I slowly spell out w-o-r-s-h-i-p-e-r. 

A sense of peace now washes over me. Even if the world around us keeps unavoidably spinning—the toddlers keep throwing cereal, the projects keep coming, the calendar keeps filling—we can wrap our fingers around peace in a way that truly does pass understanding. And we can let go of all we’ve grasped that was never meant for us. 

I fill the page with words and prayers. Then I set down my pen. And when I lay my head on the pillow that night, I feel different. Not so weary and afraid. Quieter inside. More like a worshiper and less like a worker. 

—HOLLEY GERTH 

We can learn the secret to leaning into the simple life in the midst of our busyness through the story two sisters who hosted a very important guest. When Martha complained to Jesus about all the work she had to do, He responded in the most beautiful and loving way. He didn’t rise to her emotional frenzy. Jesus understood all that was on her to-do list, and He never said any of those things weren’t worth pursuing. Rather, He gently reminded His dear friend about the power of refusing to allow the ever-present to-dos to distract her from the opportunity to choose what is “better”—spending time with the Lord.