I want to be “on” every moment. If I drink the right amount of coffee, with the right amount of sugar, after the perfect amount of sleep — I can approach that. There are just those days when the neurons are firing on all cylinders and nobody can stop me. My to-do list is no match for the efficiency that is just pouring out of my fingertips as I clear my email inbox. I can do limitless errands. Every shop I need is open, my gas tank is full, and all the plates of my life are spinning with the precision of a Swiss clock.
The next day I can’t even get my feet in the slippers right.
Why? Why is it so hard to perform at peak level for any extended period? Why do I lose my focus? Where did my momentum go? Why is it that every bright, high performing day is followed by some fog that rolls in? The powerful direction in which I was headed yesterday seems full of curves I didn’t see before. My momentum turns into doubt.
He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:3-4 NIV
This. This is my God.
God’s focus never strays. His momentum is never changeable. His direction is eternally correct, even if we can’t see the whole tapestry from our restricted point of view. No worries about neurons firing — He is the engine itself!
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV
My “performance” in this life may be erratic. I may be happy with myself one day, frustrated at my mistakes the next. I will have effective days, and days where I stumble. Days when I am exhausted when nothing I do turns out right. But I must never forget that my best days, my most valuable days, are the days I connect with my Lord in heartfelt and genuine prayer. The Lord will never get tired of hearing me, of seeing me reaching out for Him again and again.
For a practice this week, consider connecting to Jesus over your first cup of coffee in the morning. Just for a moment, reflect that the true power, the most reliable energy of all, comes from the Lord Jesus, who is next to you through every moment today, and who never tires of you.
by Carie Grant
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