Regularly Reevaluate Commitments

“If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”

—MARY ENGELBREIT

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

—Matthew 11:28

Jesus says He wants to give us rest. He invites us to come and, perhaps, He wants to give us an opportunity to reevaluate our commitments. He wants us to find what isn’t necessary and get rid of it. Anytime we feel like life has lost the simple flow it should have and, instead, has become burdensome and heavy, we should take those weights to Jesus. Life was not meant to make us feel dragged down and weary. We are not mules who spend their lives carrying a burden. We are God’s children with a blood-bought right to peace and joy.

Things in life are always changing and shifting. In order to grow, we must change also, and our commitments must change to match the changes happening in our lives. My youngest daughter, Sandra, worked on our ministry staff for fifteen years. She traveled with me, was in charge of our helps ministry, and did many things she enjoyed. When she felt ready to have children, she also thought she could still work, at least part-time. Much to her surprise, she had twins and it wasn’t long before she was in tears because her life was so complicated. She knew she had to make the difficult decision to not work for several years. The decision made a big difference in their family finances, and she didn’t want to feel left out of things at the ministry. I respect her so much because she valued a peaceful, simple lifestyle more than money and position, and I believe God is blessing her in special ways because of her difficult decision.

I believe we often forfeit many blessings God has stored up for us because we are not willing to reevaluate commitments and cut out things that God is finished with or are no longer bearing fruit. Just because you have always done something does not mean you should always do it. We can easily get into a rut and find ourselves feeling bored and bland for no reason other than we have done too much of the same thing for too long and we need a change.

It is easy to cut things off you don’t want to do, but what about when God asks you to lay something down your emotions are not ready to give up? What if it is something you have helped birth and build and feel attached to and even responsible for? Would you be willing to let go of something you still enjoy, in obedience to God, in order to simplify your life? Obedience is not always easy. Much of the time it involves sacrificing our ways for God’s way. Sometimes we don’t understand why, but those are the times when we need to trust Him and keep moving forward. God never asks us to do anything that won’t eventually make our lives better. Don’t be afraid to regularly reevaluate and make changes you need to make in order to keep your life on the simple track.