Greeted with a Holy K.I.S.S.

Once again I'm in a swirl of anxiety about how best to use a rare block of alone-time at home. So many worthwhile things to do and so much pressure to get my priorities right!

In the past my prayer would be, "Lead me, Lord---what's your will today?!" (translation: "please help me not to get it wrong!"), but I've started to learn that at times like this the "best" prayer is to do nothing--literally nothing--except sit with the Spirit and feel what I'm feeling. So I do that, allowing the babble (Babel!) of anxious voices to flow:

"I'm afraid" (thinking of tasks I think I'm supposed to know how to do, but don't!)

"I'm ashamed" (thinking of reconnecting with friends I neglected during recent times of trouble)

"I'm overwhelmed" (thinking of ten time-sensitive projects and seeing room in my schedule for only five)

It doesn't take long for the babble to subside and for the Spirit to remind me of the devotional I dutifully skimmed this morning before my brain was even awake: "I'm grateful that [I am] a special picture frame in which You can portray Your grace and beauty, Your love, Your strength, Your faithfulness..."

What if the framing of His character is first and foremost about the orientation of my heart rather than accomplishing tasks in a certain correct order? What if it's all really really simple? I'm called to love the Lord my God and I'm called to love others. I show my heart love through actions, of course, but if performance anxiety about actions starts to cloud my heart then it's time to stop and reorient myself.

What if the work of God is simply to believe (John 6:29) and to trust that His grace-beauty-love-strength-faithfulness will somehow shine through my special, clumsy frame---not because I accomplish all my tasks with perfect prioritizing, but because in the midst of imperfection my heart is oriented to His heart? What if keeping it simple means I get to relax, over and over again into this good news: God loves and accepts me through the work of Christ on the cross, not through the work I accomplish this morning, and there's no condemnation for me even when I'm afraid or ashamed or overwhelmed.

And so, I realize, I've been given a kiss from God, not as the world gives (keep it simple, stupid) but as a loving Father gives: 

Keep it simple, sweetheart

Yes.