Are You Being Intentional?
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world — your mind and heart — put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”
Matthew 5:8 The Message Bible
I feel like I’m running on a hamster wheel. For the past several months it has been the same thing; I have good intentions of keeping the house clean, of greeting my husband with a smile when he walks in the door, of being patient with my children as they get ready for school in the morning and when they come home from school tired, of not getting back to the way our life used to be when we were too busy to think, but every day I feel overwhelmed and defeated. I go to bed feeling ashamed of my day and I wake up every morning saying, “today will be different”, but it never changes. We have gotten so busy I can’t even keep up with where we are supposed to be. I yell at my children for the smallest thing, and as soon as my husband walks through the door I start in with what I need him to do. How has this happened? At what point in the pandemic did I lose sight of all the good that came out of it? I loved that through the pandemic our lives slowed down and we were able to spend more time together. I’ve allowed myself to get weary again. I do not have my heart and my mind right.
Having good intentions and being intentional is not the same thing. Having good intentions is helpful but those are just thoughts. If you are not putting your thoughts into actions then you are not being intentional. I have been working on a mind and heart change for myself. I realized I cannot do this change on my own, I need God to do some major work in me. I need a miracle! Not only was my household falling apart but I felt a million miles from God. Matthew 5:8 tells us that when our mind and heart are not right then we cannot see God. We are too busy focused on other things and our need to control to allow room for God to work. As we continue on this hamster wheel we get mentally and physically exhausted.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
Look at how Jesus says, “walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.” We need Jesus to help us. I love that He knows this and is willing to show us how to be kind to others and how to slow down and see Him in our world. There is no possible way we can do it on our own. We get too caught up in our perfectionism and our self-control to do it on our own. Every time I try to take control, I fail. I always lose sight of my intentions because I’m not putting the right actions with the thought. In the midst of my failure, I exhaust myself. I love this quote I heard on a podcast: Jonathan Pitts says “Intentionality doesn’t mean perfection, it only means purposeful.” We don’t have to be perfect as we are working on this, but we do need to always be purposeful. When we try to be perfect we will always be disappointed at the end of the day. But if we only focus on being purposeful in our walk with Christ - controlling our anger, showing love, and choosing how we spend our time - we can be pleased with the small changes we see each day.
This is a part of life that I continually have to get back in check. It is so hard to slip back to old habits. But life is short and how we spend it is so important. I want those that are important to me to recognize that they are important to me. I want them to see God’s love shining through me to them. Jesus is so good to give us the rest and help we need. He loves us so much that He does not want us to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and like a failure. He wants us to see ourselves everyday as His children, confident in what He is doing in our lives.
8 Ways To Be Intentional Every Day:
Pray each morning before your feet hit the floor that God will help you that day on the specific things you want to be intentional with. For example, I specifically pray that God will help me to be kind and patient with my family.
Practice active listening.
Be mindful of the media you are consuming.
When you feel anger or anxiety rise in you stop and say a 5 second prayer for God to come and intercede in your situation.
Make time for self-reflection.
At the end of the day list 2 specific things you did that day you are proud of.
Do one thing for yourself that brings you joy and one thing for another person that brings them joy.
Be aware of what you are saying “yes” and “no” to. Think about how important they are to you and how they will affect those around you.
Digging Deeper:
Read Matthew 5:1-16 MSG, Psalm 18:26, Matthew 15:11, and Isaiah 42:6
What do you need to be intentional about?
What ways do you need God’s help in being intentional? Be specific.
In what ways do you need to fully surrender this over to God?