Which Four Letter Word Is Your Go-To?
There are two four-letter words we are going to focus on today.
The first is: lazy. (Probably not the first four-letter word you thought of.)
There are basically two kinds of lazy.
One is intentional - it includes rest, like a Sabbatical or a Sabbath, a nap, or even an extra good night's sleep. It could be taking a walk, listening to some good music (I recently discovered smooth jazz and only wish I would have known about it sooner), having a slow conversation with a good friend, or enjoying a special meal.
The other is unintentional. Unintentional laziness is when you didn't set out to slow down or neglect an area of your life, you just drifted into being stuck by accident. Unintentionally. At my home church, we recently heard a message that identified a type of laziness I had never thought of before. Our pastor talked about how being busy can be a form of laziness. (You can check the message out here if you like.) Usually, when we think of laziness, we think of someone being sluggish and just not wanting to do anything.
But what if being busy keeps us from being intentional with our lives and moving forward in the places and ways God has for us?
It could be easy to neglect what God is prompting us to do, simply by putting it off for "later" because we are too busy right now. I wonder how much of what we are busy with is really something we should be choosing.
What if we did the Marie Kondo questions with the clutter in our schedules not just the clothes in our closets?
- Put everything that takes up your time out on the table.
- Ask yourself if it "sparks joy" (Like are you doing it out of obligation or because you a choosing it as something God actually does have for you in this season. I get that not everything is fun- I mean someone has to clean the bathroom, but all too often we don't take stock of what we are doing and end up drifting into unintentional living...)
- Keep what is meant to be yours. Jettison the rest.
The second four-letter could be triggering so before you read it, think about how God loves us and wants good for our lives. Anything He asks us to do is FOR our good! He wants us to be engaged with His plans because He loves us and has good plans for us: our character, our relationships, our future, our joy, our impact... you get the picture.
The second four-letter word is: obey.
God prompts us to do certain things. Some are general, like it's good for all of us to not murder or even have hate in our hearts, or to not commit adultery or even have a wandering eye or heart. But there are individual or specific prompts He gives us as well.
Some of us are meant to write. Some are meant to share faith through kindness to a stranger. Some of us should build businesses and some should build ministries.
What is He whispering to you?
Is there something you have been putting off for another time?
Ephesians 5:16 talks about how we should be making the most of our time as the days are evil. And Jesus said if we love Him we will obey Him. (John 14:15)
How can we obey if we aren't listening?
Listening takes intentionality. It usually doesn't just happen. I've had a hit-and-miss relationship with listening. Recently I felt like I should reach out to a certain leader, but I really didn't want to bother them. Also, I had reached out before and had been put off, so I really didn't want to do that again, but I kept feeling in my heart that I should just reach out.
So I did. And she thanked me for reaching out and set up a coffee date with me.
Listening requires taking time to be in tune with what our heart is prompting us toward. It also includes a response, and usually, you don't get a next step until you do the first one you were asked to do.
How can we listen better?
The core of good coaching is helping people listen and not be unintentionally lazy with their lives.
We all need to learn to discern God's voice and move forward.
And some of us need to follow the prompting to learn about coaching for ourselves and to help others do the same.
Our next coaching cohort is now forming. Learn more about coaching culture and save your seat for the next coach training here.
To find a good coach check out our listing of Associate Coaches.
Or maybe the LIfe On Purpose personal workshop would be a good fit for you.
Just curious enough for a good read - check out our book Traction!
So, which four-letter word is your go-to?