Daniel 8-10
3 John
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7
How do we live with less in our have-to-hustle culture? How do we live with less in increasingly desperate times both locally and around the globe? I (Ashlee Eiland) started my career in human resources with a Fortune 500 company, and I love a good chart. It helps me see and understand how to trust God when He places me in a place where I have to live with less.
To begin, take out a sheet and draw three columns. In the first column write, “I am living with less in my…”—this is where we would confess to God what we have less of, be it less energy, less time, less hope, or even less faith. But we do not stay in our confession—in the second column write, “Yet, viewed through a lens of provision, I have…” This is where we shift our perspective from what we no longer have to what we still have as an offering to the Lord. Finally, in the third column, we proclaim, “God is forming deeper trust in…”
As a personal example, in the first column, I wrote, “I am living with less in my physical capacity” as I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Currently, I am living with less physical capacity than I once knew myself to have in years past. I am having to think differently about my body, and my body is doing things that it had never done before. Then, in the second column, I wrote, “Yet viewed through a lens of provision, I now have a new ability to listen to what my body needs and meter my energy more wisely.” The limit in my physical capacity had become a gift to my family and community because, now, when I say “yes” I can do it full of life and faithfulness, knowing that I have said “no” to things I used to say “yes” to. Finally, in the third column, I wrote, “God is forming deeper trust in His timing as opposed to my ability and efficiency.” In other words, I am seeing how God is using something that I thought was for my ill for His glory.
Do we see how something so practical can help us see God differently and help commune with Him in a different way? My hope is that whether in this season, or the next, that this simple discipline will help us reorient ourselves to what God is doing in our midst as we learn to live as disciples who follow Him, even if it means we are following Him with less.
Lord God, thank You for blessing me with Your provision. I may be living with less, but I am grateful that it is forming in me a deeper trust in You. Praise You!
3 John
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7
How do we live with less in our have-to-hustle culture? How do we live with less in increasingly desperate times both locally and around the globe? I (Ashlee Eiland) started my career in human resources with a Fortune 500 company, and I love a good chart. It helps me see and understand how to trust God when He places me in a place where I have to live with less.
To begin, take out a sheet and draw three columns. In the first column write, “I am living with less in my…”—this is where we would confess to God what we have less of, be it less energy, less time, less hope, or even less faith. But we do not stay in our confession—in the second column write, “Yet, viewed through a lens of provision, I have…” This is where we shift our perspective from what we no longer have to what we still have as an offering to the Lord. Finally, in the third column, we proclaim, “God is forming deeper trust in…”
As a personal example, in the first column, I wrote, “I am living with less in my physical capacity” as I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Currently, I am living with less physical capacity than I once knew myself to have in years past. I am having to think differently about my body, and my body is doing things that it had never done before. Then, in the second column, I wrote, “Yet viewed through a lens of provision, I now have a new ability to listen to what my body needs and meter my energy more wisely.” The limit in my physical capacity had become a gift to my family and community because, now, when I say “yes” I can do it full of life and faithfulness, knowing that I have said “no” to things I used to say “yes” to. Finally, in the third column, I wrote, “God is forming deeper trust in His timing as opposed to my ability and efficiency.” In other words, I am seeing how God is using something that I thought was for my ill for His glory.
Do we see how something so practical can help us see God differently and help commune with Him in a different way? My hope is that whether in this season, or the next, that this simple discipline will help us reorient ourselves to what God is doing in our midst as we learn to live as disciples who follow Him, even if it means we are following Him with less.
Lord God, thank You for blessing me with Your provision. I may be living with less, but I am grateful that it is forming in me a deeper trust in You. Praise You!
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