I’ve discovered the secret to living simply. It is this. Put your hands over your ears. Close your eyes. Now loudly say, “La la la la la. I’m not listening to you!” I’m serious. Sort of. I believe the number one key to living simply is to intently listen to God and stop listening to other people around you.
God Knows You Best
No one knows your life like God. No one knows you and your family and your unique life circumstances like God. No one cares about you like God. No one died for you except God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Even people with the best of intentions toward us can never know us and understand our life like the Lord.
Stop Listening To Other People
We greatly complicate our lives because we listen to too many people. We put too much stock into the experiences and convictions of others. We care too much what people think of us. We read too many how-to books and blogs and magazines. We too easily adapt to the expectations of others rather than making the hard choice to say no, stick to our guns, and do what we know is right for God’s calling on our individual lives.
Need a bigger list than what I’ve given you here? Read A Christian Mother’s Version of Perfect Madness (blog now closed). Here is a little preview:
I wonder how a Christian author would summarize the “Mess” Christian Moms have gotten themselves into? How do they deal with the pressure to be Martha Stewart and to homeschool their kids to love “Pilgrim’s Progress” and quote more chapters of the Bible than the 10 P’s in a Pod family? How do they scrapbook their child’s every waking moment, journal their faith and keep faithful to their attention to both their prayer request list and their 18 different to-do lists? And what if they can’t maintain their weight thru obedience to “full” and “empty” as God ordained?
What if you can’t abide Beth Moore of if Ann Graham Lotz gives you the creeps? How are you to cope? What if “Bible Study Fellowship” is about as relaxing as a pelvic exam and you dread it with the same anxiety you used to have for calculus but have to go because you got a slot and are the envy of the waiting list?? What if you can’t think up a way to make a cactus out of a milk jug for the VBS Corral? How will people respond to you if you take yet another carton of deli potato salad to the pitch in? Or worse—call and have a pizza deliver [and use a credit card to pay for it.]
Be free.
Please.
Be free in Christ.
Living Simply By Rising Early and Getting Enough Sleep
Thanks Sallie! This is so true. I am definitely one of those who needs to shut a lot of “good things but maybe not good for me” things out. Many, many times I remind myself that I really need to be still and know that God is God in my life… not all these other people, books, etc.
Technology can be such a blessing sometimes. All the “voices” out there can help so much when the problem is really a lack of information (like when my child is sick late in the evening and I can google her symptoms without bothering our doctor). But the voices can be nothing but clamor, and we can read so much about someone else’s calling that we miss our own.
Thank you for the reminder, Sallie!
Amen!!
There are so many wonderful websites out there by wonderful Christian ladies. Many mean well. But you are so right; what is right for one may not be right for another. The less we compare ourselves to each other and the more we focus on our walk with Christ, the more simple our lives will be.
I wish more folks would share this mentality, Sallie. Talk about the 21st century Christian’s version of ‘groupthink’!
As my mom always says…”I march to the beat of a different drummer. Only you can’t hear Him…He’s in my head and on my heart.” 🙂
That’s so, so true. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve seen some Christian mom blogs where I absolutely do not think the women are telling the truth. They make us believe they are Superwomen: they clean, knit, sew, write, shop, cook, read, homeschool, garden, lead ministries, and travel frequently. Their checkbook balances seem endless, and their children entertain themselves happily while she works one of many her projects (“Hmmm…shall I knit an afghan today or refinish my kitchen cabinets? Or maybe I’ll knock down that wall in the basement and build some new shelves. Of course, that would mean I’d have to go out and chop down the trees to make the wood first…”). Give me a break! To each his own, but I certainly don’t need that kind of influence in my life, thank you very much. 😉
My mum always used to say to me ‘that is his/her story’ reminding me that mine was different. And Jen LOL!!!! I know the feeling.If anyone is feeling inefficient they should drop by my place and they will soon feel that they are doing well 🙂
I do like to live simply. Simple pleasures are the best. Thank You for this post. Wishing you and yours a Blessed Holy week and a Joyous Easter.
Happy Easter
Marilyn and Family