The Bigger the Better...really?

How well do you really know yourself?

Often, people get so busy going about all of the tasks they have to do in a day, in a week, in a month, in a year...it's easy to get lost in the busyness of the world.  So lost, that beauty, simplicity, and miracles of the moment are missed altogether.

AT&T has been running a marketing campaign with the slogan "More is Better."  The commercials show adorable interactions with children explaining that bigger, faster, and more is always better.  Although the ads are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, there is a part of me that cringes every time I see one.   The other day I jokingly said to myself that I wanted put together an ad campaign with the solgan "Live Simply" or "Less is More."  AT&T's ad campaign is doing fantastic.  Nearly everyone I have spoken to about the commercials know exactly which commercials I am talking about and even have a favorite.  The commercials connect with a cultural meta-narrative that nearly everyone can relate to:  getting more of what you want is always better.  This idea resonates with so many that it almost seems like the truth.  Why is that?  I am not so sure that more is always better.  In fact, I think it is quite possible that more is often worse.  Is it possible that we have been so programmed by our culture to seek achievement, productivity, effectiveness, success, fame, power, and luxury that we have come to believe that the more we have, the easier life is:  the more we have, the better we are as people.

The interesting thing about God's Kingdom is that it starkly different from the society norms we live by in our world.  Where we say more is better, God says less is more.  Where we divide into groups, God unites into one.  Where we become distracted, God stays focused.  In God's Kingdom, our cultural norms mean nothing.  They are just earthly treasures that will one pass away into meaningless dust.  But still, the masses are confused spending their lives trying to find happiness in all of the wrong places.

God created in every being this deep desire to know Him and for thousands of years humanity has been searching to find the one thing that will finally quench their never-ending thirst.  Things like good grades, good jobs, nice homes, expensive cars, luxury vacations, and brand name clothes have been tried and found wanting.  Money, food, drugs, fitness, and beauty don't seem to quite do the job either.  Even our closest friends and family members can't fill this void.  No matter where we turn we are eventually disappointed and left thirsting for more.  Why?  Because what we are searching for can only be found in God, our maker and the lover of our souls.  I believe this is what Jesus was getting at when he met the Samaritan woman at the well.  After a few minutes of being together, Jesus reveals to her that He knows everything she ever did and understands that she is still thirsty.  Then he tells her what she needs...what we all need:  everlasting water that can only be found in Him.  She is so excited that she goes to her village and tells everyone "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did."  She was so persuasive that the entire town went to meet Jesus and they too believed and received the water that could quench their souls forever.

Now here's a spoiler alert: Our relationship with God isn't always as easy as it reads in the story of the woman at the well.  In fact I think there might be more to that story.  I imagine that after everyone met Christ and accepted Him as the Messiah, they met regularly and worked out their salvation together.  I imagine that they prayed to God and wrestled with all kinds of things they couldn't understand.  I imagine that there was still hardships and toil in their lives, but because of their faith in Christ, they found themselves abundantly full even in the most desolate circumstances.

The truth is, relationships don't happen in an instant.  Relationships are a process and involve work from both sides.  You meet, you get to know one another, trust builds, and over the years you grow closer because of what you journey through together.   Loving God, like loving others, takes time and energy to build a relationship. It takes an openness and willingness to let go and let God be in control.  For most people in the western world giving up control can be the most difficult, but when we finally give in something amazing happens.  God shows us His dreams for us; dreams of a beautiful, abundant, joyful, happy life. The amazing thing about God, is that no matter how long it takes, how hard you fight against Him, God doesn't abandon.  God never gives up.  Since the dawn of creation and until the end of the age God is always seeking our heart.  He will continue to wait for us to slow down enough to be still, to know that He is God, and to say yes to all that He wants to do in our lives. AND, when we finally do surrender to God's love, we begin to be transformed and our lives take a shape we never could have dreamed up for ourselves.

I was talking with a person very dear to me about some struggles she is experiencing in life.  She was struggling with her emotions about a particular issue and finally I asked, "Have you ever told God how you really feel?" After a moment of silence, I followed that question up with "Have you ever taken the time to admit to yourself how you really feel?"  After a few moments, she answered "No."  I don't think she was intentionally hiding anything from herself or from God.  Actually, I think that like so many others, she hadn't set time aside to be intentional about caring for her soul by being in communion with God.

I love that in Italy museums, shops, and churches close during the middle of the day for rest.  It reminds me that we all need time to rest and be still.  What would happen this week if you committed to giving yourself some time to listen and be still?  Better yet, what would happen this week if you responded to God's unending invitation to be with him in the still and quiet places?  You might discover things about yourself you never knew existed.  You might find God at work in all sorts of places in your small world.  If I were a betting person, I would even bet that you too might discover that slower can actually be better than faster and that less really is more.