...but we insist on making it complicated. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see the world in simple terms? That’s a very scary idea! I don’t no if man could handle “simple”... he might start to feel inadequate. Everyone wants to be a genius, or at the very least do something that creates the “wow” factor. Can you imagine what life might be like if we measured “genius” not by how fancy, big or powerful somebody makes something, but by how simple.
Just for a moment, think of what you are doing in the world right now, this minute. It’s complicated. More and more stuff keeps coming at you that you have to keep up with. We have wide-ranging complexities touching our lives every day. Technology with features we can't or don't know how to use and incomprehensible software messages. When the instruction book for your new wireless hand-held device (can’t call it a cell phone anymore, because... well you know) is larger than the device... don’t you think something is really wrong with that picture? We have inexplicable tax policies, nightmarish healthcare paperwork, and with the new healthcare reforms it will get much worse. What about those infernal cell phone pricing plans? Sorry... I didn’t mean to call it a “cell phone”.
I think you get the idea. Humanity works overtime to make things, almost all things... complicated. At least we don’t need a “pin number” to breath... yet!
It’s time for some new rules... at least in your personal life. Simplify your life. Maybe we should follow Einstein's belief... wasn’t he a really smart guy... that "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
Most of us work at jobs that don’t need to be as complex as they have become. We ourselves have contributed to that complexity. I look back over 30 years of doing the same type of job... and its far more complicated today than it was in the 70’s or the 80’s. Frankly, my job was more satisfying 30 or 20 years ago than it is today. And it was in fact, far more productive and satisfying then, than it is now. Most of what we do in life endeavors is not rocket science, but of course there is a degree of complexity to some things we must deal with.
What we need is the right balance in our lives to optimize our experiences. How? Where can such balance in an “off-balance” world come from? God. Very simple isn’t it.... just God. Partner with God and life will become much simpler. He has given us very simple tools to create the needed balance in our lives in a very chaotic world.
Jesus provided the ultimate counsel for creating near perfect balance in human life experience. Here’s what he said as recorded in Matthew 22:37-40.... “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And... just before His death on the cross, He again reinforced the importance of human relationships... as recorded in John 13:34-35... "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Think about it... don’t we make things more complicated than they need to be to flatter our own ego? We like to make things complex to gain power over others... making ourselves more important than we really are? Complexity.... yields self-importance, arrogance, pride and all the character traits that make those with such things very undesirable to be around.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex... it takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite direction and make things easy, simple.
The advice Jesus gives.... to love others and to love God must be the foundation of our entire being, if we are to find and sustain balance and simplicity in our lives. If we can’t see others as valuable... if we can’t be concerned about the needs of others, putting their needs and interests first before our own... then we are essentially worthless in the eyes of God.
Let go of yourself! We must recognize and yield to a higher authority, a power outside and beyond ourselves. This is the single pivotal issue for living in balance and harmony with the world around us. If we can’t see beyond ourselves, our own ideas and our own desires, then we become nothing more than a tarnished self-made god among many in an overly complex world that is wasting away. The living God rejects us.
God is really very simple, and has simple expectations in relationship with humanity. I know... He is unfathomable, unimaginable and incomprehensibly complex. That part of God shouldn’t be our primary concern. He has presented Himself to humanity in very simple terms and requires very simple commitments from us to sustain a relationship with Him.
What I am saying is simple... a relationship with God brings balance ands simplicity to your life. It’s not rocket science. Don’t over complicate what God offers to you!
You have the capacity to live a simple and satisfying life... but it will only happen if you allow God to simplify your life. Your commitment to God, will dramatically begin to put the complexities of your life in perspective. Certain things will diminish in importance and you will begin to see alternate pathways that will ease the stress and anxieties of the complex world around you.
Your simple life starts by seeing others as more important than yourself.... giving instead of taking.... caring for others in need first before yourself. Turning your head and heart upward... yielding to the God who loves you and gave it all, to make your life a simple and satisfying experience... anchored in HIM.
