Daily Nuggets of Grace Part 7: Fruitful! Sample

Stopping to Reset

How do we abide in the "True Vine" we discovered yesterday when there's so little time? "I'm so busy" is the soundtrack to our lives. Family, ministry, and work all hang precariously together as we reach for the next time-management technique to enable us to cram even more into our days. Whether spinning a thousand plates or slogging through a thankless task, the time and opportunity to abide in the "True Vine" feels elusive.

In 2004, Los Angeles Air Traffic Control suddenly lost contact with about 800 flights and frantically grounded another 1,000. What had gone wrong? The inquiry discovered that the computer responsible had run out of time—its internal clock needed to be restarted every 49 days to keep the system running.

Someone had forgotten the most straightforward fix—turn it off and on again. Reset the system.

God knows we also benefit from a reset.

Moses knew a thing or two about this too. Courtier, murderer, fugitive, liberator, lawyer, wanderer – he'd seen it all. In the wilderness, he wrote Psalm 90.

Full of the awareness of human frailty compared to God's amazing righteousness, he calls out, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

That's God's answer to the busyness, the ultimate time-management technique. His invitation is, "Stop a moment and reset. Number your days rightly and gain a wise heart."

But it's so hard to do. We keep going with the original plan, even when it becomes unmanageable. We add even more things to do, worthwhile things even, rather than discover that it's in repentance and rest that we will find salvation. In quietness and trust we'll find strength (Isaiah 30:15-16).

This quiet reset in God’s presence is a key step toward fruitfulness. Instead of pushing forward in our own strength, rest demonstrates tangible trust in the involvement of our heavenly Father.

Reflect and Respond

Jesus showed us a better way to manage our time—to pull in the oars, hoist the sail, and be "blown" by the Spirit. His words baffled Nicodemus and delighted John (John 3). What needs a reset in your life right now so that you have time to "abide" and hear Him say, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21)?

Pray

Father, I choose to be still in this moment and know that you are God. Reveal to me what I need to reset in my life. Show me how to number my days aright so that I may fully abide in You. Amen.