Getting Grounded

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."                           Mark 6:31 (NIV)

Kim and I Had a chance to get away on a vacation to Vermont this month.  Yup, I said Vermont.  I know it's totally strange to think about two citified West coasters going to spend the summer in one of the most rural places on the East coast, but long story short, our good friend Carter Morris was staying out there for the summer to coach tennis and he hooked us up with some pretty nice accommodations.  We stayed on a couple acre plot, in the middle of the country, in this 18th century farm house (thanks Sarah).  It looked something like "Little House on the Prairie" meets "The Color Purple."  I must say, VT was pretty cool. We swam in lakes, swung into rivers off of rope swings (or at least Carter and I did, Kim being pregnant and all) and hiked through these Walden-woodsy type forests, complete with chipmunks and deer. We even went to the Ben and Jerry's factory. I won't lie to you, it was a blast, and it was absolutely beautiful.  Most of all, we got something we both desperately needed--rest.

 It was great to get away to get a chance to get grounded mentally, emotionally and especially spiritually.  Initially we were not going to go because we just felt like we had too much to do. It's funny how sometimes, you don't realize how much you need a break until you take one.  

 Anyway, at one point during the trip, Carter and I got to talking about some of the principles in the game of tennis (a sport I know next to nothing about, aside from the fact that you use a racket to hit a ball, that John McEnroe at one time had some anger issues and Andre Agassi at one time had hair).  However, trying to be a good friend, I listened, and as I did, I realized, yet again, how true it is that you can find a life-metaphor in just about anything.  

 Carter explained that when he coaches people in tennis one of the most frequent mistakes that they tend to make is to fail to really get "grounded."  Instead of positioning themselves well on the court and letting balls come to them, they waste energy chasing balls down unnecessarily and become so exhausted that defeat is almost guaranteed.  He explained how easy it is to allow the ball to play you rather than playing to ball.  He went on to explain that the true power hitters were the ones who understood the principle of being grounded, and actually positioned themselves well and conserved their energy to maximize results.

 Now those of us who know Carter, know he's a pretty straight-up dude, and he wasn't looking to necessarily make any deep or profound spiritual connections with this analogy, he was just "talking shop" so to speak.  But as he spoke, it just dawned on me--how easy it is to allow life to play me instead of me playing it. At times, I can tend to waste my energy chasing down and prioritizing urgent matters instead of grounding myself and being prepared for the important ones that come my way.  Too often I want to take care of situations quickly without first sitting down to really think through how I'm going to accomplish the goal (Luke 14:28) Ultimately, what ends up happening is the inevitable--burnout.

 This past Tuesday, at our midweek service, we talked about the principle of grounding ourselves by deciding to go to God in total reliance, and how vital it is to our spiritual lives to make sure that we are taking the time to actuallydo that.  Sometimes we can convince ourselves that things in life are so urgent that we don't have time for God!  Yet we see something very different being stressed here:

This is what the LORD says: 

       "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, 
       who depends on flesh for his strength 
       and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; 
       he will not see prosperity when it comes. 
       He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, 
       in a salt land where no one lives.

 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, 
       whose confidence is in him.

 He will be like a tree planted by the water 
       that sends out its roots by the stream. 
       It does not fear when heat comes; 
       its leaves are always green. 
       It has no worries in a year of drought 
       and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NIV)

 Sometimes I have to give myself permission to just slow down.  I have to work through the short term thinking and remember that God wants me for the long haul.  A spiritual "burnout" is of no value to the Kingdom. Maybe you're like me in that you have a hard time really valuing the importance of preparation and rest.  Maybe you have convinced yourself that you can go a mile a minute in life, never slowing down to be refreshed, and that it won't eventually take it's toll on you.  It will. Maybe you have become too busy to truly rely on God for your strength.  I dunno, maybe you need to take a vacation.

I guess the point is that whatever the situation, in the long run, it definitely pays to get "grounded."

Thanks for taking the time,

Curtis

Comments

[Alyssa]

Thanks for sharing this. For me this really hit close to home. I can sometimes get so caught up in all that I need to do for God's kingdom that I can forget to stop and just focus on really connecting to God deeply and getting grounded. This was really helpful so thank you for "taking the time"

[Joseph Dindinger]

Good stuff, Curtis! Gotta remember that we can't go on for ever in our own strength.

[Steve]

C-Note, being grounded is the key.

[Rafa]

Good stuff bro.... great reminder how important it is to really trust and rely on God and allow ourselves to rest and trust that He's in control.