Rhythms to Anchor Us

This past week, I found myself at a coffee shop working for a few hours in between events. I had about a two-hour pocket of time, and it didn't make sense for me to drive back and forth across town to my house, using up an hour of that time.

I realized the coffee shop was going to close an hour before I was leaving, so I decided to sit at one of the outside tables, knowing I could stay even after they closed. For a while it was just me out on the sidewalk and I was able to get a few things done, but quickly the other outside tables began to fill up and the volume of conversation around me continued to grow.

I quickly remembered why I don't work from a coffee shop. It is way too distracting for me.

At the table next to me, a man and a woman, young adult leaders from a local church, were chatting about their upcoming small groups. They were discussing what curriculum they were going to use, what was most important to each of them in choosing said curriculum, and their many differences in how they thought the whole thing should be run. Several times, I found myself wanting to interject (I didn't!) into their conversation and ask if they'd read this book or knew about this research that might help them in their planning.

At the table a little further down the way, an older gentleman sat with a younger one, and they were discussing a wide range of topics. The one that caught my attention was when the older man started talking about how he had rebelled as a young man by growing his hair long, which, at the time, his family believed was a sin.

A group of moms sat at a different table, talking about IEPs, burnout, and life in general. And all the while, people were coming and going, surprised to find the coffee shop closed, wishing for the coffee or cookie they'd been hoping to pick up.

Needless to say, I abandoned the work I had planned to do. It would keep for another time, but it got me thinking about how often, when we sit down to read our Bible, spend time in prayer, or be still with Jesus, it's as if we are in a coffee shop, and the noise just keeps ramping up.

Any number of things might pop into our minds as we slow down and make space to listen for the Holy Spirit. And you know what, that's totally normal. The goal isn't to have a blank mind where we don't think of anything, but to be able to notice what we are thinking about and determine how to proceed.

If the thing filling my thoughts when I sit down to read my Bible is a list of what I need to do that day, the easiest thing for me to do is to pull out a piece of paper and jot down everything coming to mind that needs to get done. This ensures I won't forget about it, and it allows me to let it go for that moment in time. But if the thing filling my mind is the state of the world and the sadness I'm holding because of it, I might first want to spend time talking with God about that sadness before engaging with Scripture, creating space for my mind to be fully present to the words.

Sometimes the things that come to mind are for now, not later. If I sit down to pray and the face of a friend or loved one pops into my mind, it may be that they are exactly who I should be thinking about and talking with God about that day.

I don't think God is bothered by our busy minds. I think God wants to meet us there just as he wants to meet us anywhere.

If you find your mind is constantly distracted when you sit down to be with Jesus, you might want to try some new rhythms to help you settle into that space.

It might be helpful to engage with an app like Lectio 365 and explore a daily practice of meeting with God in the morning, midday, and evening, which serve as anchor points to help you settle throughout the day. It could be helpful to keep a journal and start paying attention to what is happening in your body when you find yourself distracted in those moments. Maybe being in nature is where you know that your mind can relax. Different rhythms are helpful in different seasons. It's ok to change it up as needed.

When I was at the coffee shop, the thing that would have helped me was having my noise-cancelling headphones, which I'd left at home. But headphones are no help when the distractions are in my own mind. For that, I need practical rhythms that help anchor me to Jesus day after day. 

~  Melissa