I Need a Break!

Do you ever get that feeling… the spring break mentality? Brought on by hard work, and busyness, it’s been popularized by students escaping from assignments and exams, but everyday work, church, and family commitments also bring it on. You start to feel like you’re in a rut, and you want to “break” out of it with a little spell of rebellion and self-indulgence. The melting snow and Winter holding onto Spring intensifies the anticipation of a change of pace. Some look so forward to this break that it goes from a desire to a need. Have you ever started living for your vacations, spring break, or retirement? We’re all susceptible to it because life is hard, painful and difficult at times. But something’s wrong with this way of thinking. Looking forward to when troubles are left in the past delays our happiness into the future and robs us of the joy we can have today.

Another problem with this kind of thinking is that our great adversary the Devil takes advantage of the ‘I need it bad’ mentality. Advertisers take advantage of this mentality every day. We’re more susceptible to purchase something we know we can’t afford, or yield to temptation in this mindset. Blank check credit card offers and “no payments until the year 2020- sales” are aimed directly toward this kind of thinking. Once you buy into the idea that you need it or deserve it, they make it easy, so you can’t resist. The temptations rage on each day: “I deserve to have a good time as much as the next guy”; “I worked hard, now I deserve a reward”; “She went on a shopping trip, so why shouldn’t I go on a fishing trip”; “Just do it”; “you’re worth it”; “you’re #1”… the list goes on. Satan sells his ideas the same way. As soon as we begin thinking about what ‘I’ deserve, need, or want, we place our foot into a snare.

How can we avoid this trap? We should live fulfilled on a daily basis, so we are content with who we are, what we have and what we do. A basic biblical principle easy to forget and hard to learn from (Gal. 2:20) is: “I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” We feel run down and tired and in a rut when we begin to do things in our own strength instead of the strength of Christ. True fulfillment and contentment in Christ aught not be an occasional experience. It comes from a daily walk with our Lord. God will provide what we need, if we depend on Him to provide. This view of the world has been clarified for me, when witnessing the joy of believers who live in absolute poverty. Our prosperity makes us susceptible to always want more and slip into a self focused view of life.

I recently did a contentment check, and realized that I was fueling my lack of contentment with some things:
1) I had a mental “to buy” list of hunting equipment. I routinely went through the Cabela’s magazines, marking the “things I’d like to have”. Because hunting and fishing gear is my Achilles heel, I decided to pitch the magazines so I would learn to be content with what I have. What’s your weakness? Clothes, trips, Jewelry…
2) I had a To Do list at home on the fridge that had many household chores. It was all about “stuff.” No names were on it. I found it interesting that I while there were many projects planned, I didn’t have goals to build relationships or spend time with people on my list. I decided to change that. What’s on your To Do list?

Welcome to the conversation.

A whole other can of worms is getting proper rest. I’ll save that for another conversation.