Living a Mountain Mindset

Last week I shared that while on vacation, I wrote in my journal, “Why can’t I have the peace I feel on vacation when I get home?”  I looked over that journal entry and I want to share a little more of what I wrote.

“Peace just closes around me.  I’m tucked in the treetops.  Birds fly from branch to branch, squirrels scamper about, turkeys run across the gravelly winding road and families of deer graze in the quiet.  It is life as God created it.  When you just allow yourself to see it.  Take it in. Breathe in the beauty that is God’s handiwork, you realize that life lived to its fullest is lived in the palm of God’s hands.  The need to control and plan draws our attention and our hearts to a complicated tangled world.  I want to learn to live a NC Mountain Mindset in Pennsylvania. Because the only difference is geography.”

I’ve been home a week.  Responsibilities have taken over.  Laundry needs done.  House needs cleaned.  Work needs attention.  Doctor’s need visited.  Groceries need to be bought.  So much for my NC Mountain Mindset. 

So, in the midst of an extremely busy week, I’m working to see the world from the perspective of a mountain cabin deck.  No, I don’t have the luxury of doing whatever I want every day.   I have responsibilities here at home.  But I do have the luxury of choosing not only my mindset but what I choose to do with my time and my heart.

The Bible is filled with stories of people who laid down their lives to follow Jesus.  Left everything behind. So enthralled by the message of Jesus and the love of a God who would send his Son to die for sinners.  Mark 1:17-18 is well known: “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  And at once they left their nets and followed Him.”  Luke 5:1-11 tells the complete story leading up to this command.  Simon, James and John had been fishing all day with no luck and they were washing their nets, ready to head home.  Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a little from shore so Jesus could teach the people who had gathered. 

When Jesus was done, he told Simon to go to deeper water and put his nets back into the water.  Simon was hesitant because he’d been fishing all night with no catches but said “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (v5)  They caught so many fish their nets began to break.  Jesus showed them a miracle.  He showed how He would provide for them.  And then, He spoke those well-known words, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

Few of us will ever be called to leave our lives, our families, everything we know and love to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Missionaries travel to far corners of the world – often risking their lives – leaving behind the comforts of home, to spread the news of salvation.

But just because we aren’t called to leave everything behind, doesn’t mean we aren’t called to make choices that serve God.  Choices to focus not on our earthy responsibilities, but rather to show how to live a God-centered, God-honoring life in a broken world.  In other words, leave behind the worldly ties that bind us to perfectionism and checklists.  Abandon the perspectives that lead us away from Jesus.

The truth is, I love lists.  I love planners and calendars.  I love checking off all the things I’ve gotten done.  I love telling my family just how much I’ve accomplished.  When I recite the litany of activities I’ve finished, I am almost high with a sense of achievement.  “Look at what I’ve done!”  “Aren’t you impressed?”  “You can shower me with compliments any time you are ready.”  The problem isn’t in being a responsible person.  It isn’t wrong to  honor the blessings you’ve been given (your home, your health, your job, etc.) by caring for them.  But there is a problem when the action of stewarding those blessings leads to self-congratulations rather than humility for Jesus.

I love Jesus with all my heart.  But some days, you’d think I love my checklists more. 

Jesus hasn’t asked me to lay down my worldly possessions, leave my family, or give up the life I’ve known.  But He is asking me to live life in a way that honors Him.  To tackle the day-to-day challenges and mundane tasks with gratitude.  To make the choice to see life as I did on the deck of that cabin in North Carolina.  To not overlook the simple as I congratulate myself on overcoming the complex.

The view from my deck in Pennsylvania is beautiful.  The squirrels scamper about.  I see deer in fields every day.  The trees sway gently in the breeze.  Flower bloom effortlessly.  All waiting for me to notice.  To step away from myself and remember that God loves me so much He pursued me.  He sacrificed his Son so that I would be able to live in His company.  One day, I will run into Jesus arms.  But until that time, I have a choice to make.

Do I let my selfish desires and worldly responsibilities drag me through life? Or do I walk -hand-in-hand, with the one who called me to be His own?  Choices are funny things.  They are simultaneously easy and difficult.  But the choice to place Jesus first is one rooted in love and guaranteed to bring a joy and peace beyond comprehension.  A peace that, in my opinion, looks a lot like a NC Mountain view.

What are you focusing on?  Have you allowed the weight of worldly responsibilities to blind you to the blessings of Jesus?  I encourage you to find peace in the simple love of Jesus.