But you....

Whom have I in heaven but You? I want nothing more on earth, but You. My body and my heart may grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart and all I need forever. (Psalm 73:25-26 NLV) We could ask ourselves this question daily and if we were really, really honest with ourselves and others, we might just admit we have a whole lot of things and people who get in the way of our closeness in relationship with God! We have all manner of media to distract us. We engage in all manner of 'hobby' to fill our downtime. We masterfully add events and meetings into our schedules until we realize we haven't left any time for even a bio-break! The more we ask if we really have the right focus, the more we may discover we don't.

We cannot be afraid of asking, though, for it is oftentimes the point of discovery that sets in motion the change we really need in order to 'right' that focus once again. I know I speak for myself on this one - the more I find myself 'empty' - the more I find my relationship with Jesus has had some 'interrupters'. It isn't that I fall out of relationship with him, but our time together is more superficial instead of deeply meaningful. Our time is rushed and our moments grow less frequent. Have you ever found yourself there? You only need to keep in mind the heart of our psalmist to understand what God is after  ---  that God is our strength, all we need, and nothing makes our heart grow weaker than to be out of that close relationship with him for any length of time.

My mother is 100 and she has lived a long, long life. Her heart is still 'strong' in the sense that she doesn't take a lot of medications to support it, but it is growing weaker by the day. You will notice her slowing her pace, taking more and more time to accomplish even the smallest of tasks, and requiring lots more breaks in between those tasks to 'recover'. Her heart has lost some of the strength it used to possess. A weak heart needs rest - when we see our 'hearts' growing weak, it isn't more we need to pile in as much as it may be less we need to be doing so we have time to recover!

We all need time well spent in times of spiritual rest in order to recover our spirit, regenerate our heart, and bolster our soul. We do well to ask if Jesus is really the strength we seek, or is he something we try to 'pile in' at some point in our day that we just know we need, but don't really give a top priority. We do well to evaluate if he is all we need, or do we live with a Jesus AND.... kind of focus. If it is the Jesus AND.... kind of focus we have had, we might just need to come back to the place we let go of that which has been making our heart weak! Just sayin!