Reminding.

The pressure is on to have all of this figured out.

Sometimes it seems increasingly rare to just slow down and think. I am kind of chuckling to myself to think about actually opening up my calendar and picking a regular time each week and titling it "think". Someone asks if I can meet on Thursday morning at 9am. I tell them no. They casually inquire what I have that morning. I tell them, "thinking". What? Yeah, I have an appointment to think that morning. Sounds funny. "Oh, you're one of those kind." (I'll be back in a second, I actually need to put that on my calendar.) Seriously though, I do.

And in one of those moments when I actually slow down to think, I realize how easy it is to live life under pressure. I have got to figure this out. Figure this relationship out. Figure this money out. Figure this weight out. Figure this parenting out. Figure this job out. Figure this conflict out. Figure this problem out. Figure this retirement out. Figure this disappointment out. Figure God out. A lot of figuring. And I think it's subtle. I don't think that I am boldly declaring that I know that I am the only way that any of these things is going to be figured out, but the subtle part is that that idea is quietly seeping into my daily, moment by moment living. I've got to figure all of this out. The pressure is on.

Certainly not the least on this list is the subtle nuance of the pressure being on you and me to make ourselves good with God. Of course, I know that this is crazy. I can't make myself good with God, but if I slow in my appointment to think, I am increasingly aware that I have regularly shifted into the mode of thinking and living like I have to do it. And what happens? Well, when the weight of my list really falls down on top of me and I realize that I'm not making much headway, the pressure mounts. The relationship, the money, the weight, the parenting, the job, the conflict, the problem, the retirement, the disappointment, the God thing all still seem out of control at times. Maybe much of the time.

Pressure.

Failure.

Cycle.

Seems pretty real at times.

Now follow this beautiful, narrowing path. From the wide pressure packed expanse of figuring out the relationship, the money, the weight, the parenting, the job, the conflict, the problem, the retirement, the disappointment, the God thing and fill in the blanks galore to a narrowing, beautiful releasing of pressure. God draws us into relationship with Him. He puts His Spirit in us as His children. Now that the Spirit of God is in us, He teaches us things that we need to grow and will then remind us of the things that Jesus has taught us all along the way. And it is hard, painful, beautiful and glorious. That is what Jesus is teaching us in the Bible book of John, chapter 14, verse 26. These bytes cannot fully express the magnitude of this thought. A prolonged primal scream would fit in this point of the paragraph.

The pressure on is, "Why don't you know all this stuff yet?"

The gracious pressure off is, "I'll teach you."

The pressure on is, "You keep failing, I'm done with you!"

The gracious pressure off is, "I'll remind you of the things I've taught you."

The pressure on is, "You better get this today or else."

The gracious pressure off is, "The time frame of my reminding you of these things is for your life."

If the pressure is on you and me to figure this whole God thing out, then there is no need for Him to remind us of anything. We'll just screw up and He'll be done with us. But the sheer fact that He is teaching us and reminding us that He will teach us and remind us is this triumphant reality that He is a compassionate God, full of love and slow to anger. He is persevering with us. He has not invited us into a pressure cooker all alone, with the death and life of our souls on the line.

Invitation.

Teaching.

Reminding.

Cycle.

And He knows that needing to be reminded is a beautiful, humble place of dependance.

This may be worth scheduling a thinking time on your calendar for.

There's more.