Today from Oswald Chambers:
“Beware of ‘the cares of this world,’ because they are the things that produce a wrong temper of soul. It is extraordinary what an enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention from God. Refuse to be swamped with the cares of this life.”
I so want to fight back on this. It sounds haughty, unrealistic, and Pollyannaish – reactions which likely makes it even more worthy of my attention. Of course, that this is exactly what I need to hear going into Advent as I “prepare the way” for Christmas. I can get solace, if I need it, from the verbiage. Chambers does not suggest that I “ignore” the “cares of this life,” only that I “refuse to be swamped” by them. But I must acknowledge the truth in his statement. Whatever “cares of this life” I let in, no matter how simple they are, they have the ability to distract my attention from God just as a small hole in a boat hull has the ability to sink it.
It occurs to me that Chambers has delivered a good mantra as I head into Christmas. As I move toward, contemplate and celebrate Christmas – “Refuse to be swamped with the cares of this life.”
Okay. Now comes the hard part.
It occurs to me... 