Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Overscheduled.
Sound familiar?
Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt.
Today’s velocity of life can consume and control us.
That’s where the danger lies: When we spend our lives doing things that keep us busy but don’t really matter, we sacrifice the things that do.
Pastor Bill Hybels says, “Simplified living requires more than just organizing your closets or cleaning out your desk drawer. It requires uncluttering your soul.”
You CAN stop doing the stuff that doesn’t matter and build your life on the things that do matter.
10 Simplifying Transitions
1. FROM RESTLESS TO FULFILLED – Examine and refine my working world.
2. FROM WOUNDED TO WHOLE – Forgive.
3. FROM ANXIOUS TO PEACEFUL – Face my fears.
4. FROM ISOLATED TO CONNECTED – Deepen healthy relationships.
5. FROM DRIFTING TO FOCUSED – Follow God’s calling.
6. FROM EXHAUSTED TO ENERGIZED – Fill my depleted spiritual bucket.
7. FROM STUCK TO MOVING ON – Go with the seasons.
8. FROM OVERSCHEDULED TO ORGANIZED – Prioritize and organize my calendar.
9. FROM OVERWHELMED TO IN CONTROL – Be a good steward of my finances.
10. FROM MEANINGLESS TO SATISFIED – The legacy of a simplified life.
10 Practices to Unclutter My Soul
1. Prioritize and organize my calendar.
• Make time for God—mark it in the calendar.
• Make time for family—mark it in the calendar.
• Make time for exercise and recreation—mark it in the calendar.
• Set goals—mark them in the calendar.
• If you want to do something else, mark it in the calendar.
• Stick to the calendar.
2. Be a good steward of my finances.
Five required beliefs for financial reconciliation:
i) “All I have comes from God.”
ii) “I live joyfully within God’s current provision for my life.”
iii) “Get out of debt.”
iv) “Being debt free and living below my income enables me to give more.”
v) “Honor God by giving the first tenth of all my earnings to His purposes in the world.”
Follow the 10-10-80 Principle:
• 10% to God (church)
• 10% to emergencies, extra giving, and retirement.
• Live on 80%
3. Go with the seasons.
• Remember Ecclesiastes 3 – “There is a time for everything.”
• Identify my current season.
• Be fully in my season.
• Go with the changing of the season.
• Find a life verse, “a short passage of Scripture that serves as a rallying cry to guide and focus the current season in your life, or your life as a whole.”
4. Examine and refine your working world.
Be satisfied in my labors.
Find fulfillment in my work.
Have energy, peace, and self-confidence in my work.
If my job does not offer the above, find a new one.
5. Forgive
Perspective: Feeling wronged doesn’t mean I was wronged.
When legitimately wronged, follow Matthew 18.
Forgiveness can lead others to Jesus.
6. Be at peace.
Face my fears.
Speak truth.
If I do my part, God will do His part.
7. Deepen healthy relationships.
Spend time with true friends and wise people.
Stay away from troublesome and divisive people.
8. Follow God’s calling.
Find a life verse, “a short passage of Scripture that serves as a rallying cry to guide and focus the current season in your life, or your life as a whole.”
9. Go with the seasons.
• Remember Ecclesiastes 3 – “There is a time for everything.”
• Identify my current season.
• Be fully in my season.
• Go with the changing of the season.
10. Be satisfied.
Fill my life with things that bring:
i) true satisfaction: fulfill God-given desires.
ii) purpose: fulfill God’s purpose
iii) significance: bring glory to God.
APPLICATION: Which practice do you most need to use at this time in your life? Please leave a comment below.
I write to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose. If this material is helpful to you, please follow me.
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Thank you, dear bro. Bob. It’s allways nice to hear frm good people like you. Thank you 4 all the scriptures. U are a blessing.
#9 Go with the seasons. There is a time for everything. I have really been thinking about where I’ve been and everything that has happened to bring me to where I am now. So much has changed. I have hope in new beginnings.
God is good at new beginnings. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “…new life burgeons.”