24/7 Expectations... and Grace

 

“The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:42b-43).

 

I wonder if Jesus would have had data service to His phone. I recently disabled my service. I realized that I do not have the self-control needed to be present with people and be opened up to 24/7 access to data. I am trying to figure out how to be with people in love and compulsive checking was getting in the way of this sense of call.

 

In the above verse “the people were looking for him”, but he left them to follow his call. He intentionally refused to meet their expectations. “The people were looking for him”, but the work was outside of his Father’s call, so he fought. He was present with people when he was called to be, yet self-controlled and single-minded enough in his pursuit of his Father’s business to leave them when he needed to.

 

If Jesus had data service, he would have had the self-control to manage it. Pressing matters do not throw him off from being both fully present with people and fully responsive to the Father’s call. Whether this meant seemingly ignoring the sick and dying, just waitin’ around with the woman at the well, or telling one of his best friends, “Get behind me Satan”, he persisted in his sense of what he needed to do - regardless of the expectations others placed on him.

 

How do we hold the balance of the competing 24/7 expectations of: friends, family, work, church, sports and hobbies, when it’s so easy for one piece of our lives to throw us off balance?

 

I have heard it said, we ought not refer to this as a balance, but rather as a tension. Using the language of balance seems to infer that we can perfectly situate the competing demands, but we never will. If the Kingdom is unfolding and the Father’s business is developing, then our call and our responsibilities are also shifting.

 

I had a recent conversation with a 1st year student who decided to drop down to four courses so she could be fully present with the people around her. I had another conversation with a staff member who had to pull out of a church committee to follow the calling of God on her life. There is grace for those of us who are still figuring out how to manage the expectations and roles we are in. 24/7 expectations create tension. To live faithfully in the tension of shifting responsibilities and expectations, you must be willing to give yourself grace.

 

“The people were looking for him”, but He still left them. When the expectations were high, he took the freedom to remove himself from situations and recalculate his call: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). To follow God’s calling, to be about your Father’s business, whose needs or expectations might you be called to take note of but not accommodate to?

 

Talk to someone about this struggle; you are not alone.

 

The roots of a strong tree draw from living water for sturdiness and growth.