Productivity is way overrated if it is not attended with peace. The push to run yourself ragged doing 65 things concurrently without breaking a sweat is kind of crazy don’t you think?

The pace of peace is walking in tandem with the Father. The cool of the day stroll in the security that He has everything under control.

A rest remains for those who will claim it, the Bible tells us.

Busy, busy, busy, does not give you bragging rights.

The badge of honour is not “I’m busy”, but “I’m blessed”.

https://davidleemartin.com/the-pace-of-peace-staying-productive-without-losing-your-marbles/

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00:00:03.720]
What actually prompted me to talk about what I want to talk about today is I spoke with a friend yesterday and as part of that, I was just showing some of I was showing him some of the things that I’ve been creating for the students in the Christian Creative Academy. And particularly I was talking about like roadmaps that help people publish books, create online courses, develop their websites, etc. And it was like like without without wanting to sound kind of weird or proud.

00:00:43.220]
I was really happy with what I saw. But what it highlighted to me was how easy it is to just become very busy with productivity and really step out of pace with peace. And by that, I mean, when we look at the then nature of and the manner and the mode of operation of God right there in the beginning when he created everything, you see him stop at every place along the way and really like, enjoy and celebrate what he had made.

00:01:23.360]
We see again and again the refrain. And it was good and it was good and it was very good. And and it was like there was an appreciation. God actually took time to slow down, to hit the pause button and just enjoy what he had made and rejoice and celebrate in what he had made. And I think I really don’t know about anyone else here because I can’t speak for for you. But I find it’s very easy sometimes, particularly if you’re a creative person and an active person and you have a desire to be productive, that you can kind of just run from one project to the next.

00:02:09.500]
Or you may have various. Dishes that you are spinning, all these plates that we spin and you don’t leave yourself enough kind of wide space on the page to just enjoy what you’ve already made to to really celebrate your wins and say it was highlighted to me yesterday because I was looking at some some stuff that I’d made and I’d actually be honest with you. I’d really forgotten that I’d even created it. And so in showcasing it to my friend, I was like, wow, this is so good.

00:02:48.890]
This is really nice. And, you know, productivity, when it is uncoupled from piece or not attended with piece is really quite overrated. You know, there’s there’s so much talk nowadays about productivity and multitasking and and like producing so much and doing so much and time management, et cetera. I say today, I think it’s probably been kinder since the year dot. But honestly, there is a great deal more than like being able to multitask on 65 things at once without breaking a sweat.

00:03:30.080]
I mean, that may be quite impressive. It might get you in the Guinness Book of World Records, but it will probably also eventually give you a heart attack. You know, the pace of peace. Here’s where we learn to walk in tandem with God, and quite honestly, that pace is the cool of the day. Yeah, knowing, walking and wandering with him in the cool of the day, understanding and having the security that he is in control, that he’s got you covered, he’s got your back.

00:04:02.720]
He’s right there ahead of you leading the way. And he’s on every side all around you. You are secure in the knowledge that he will provide. I mean, the scriptures talk about look at the birds of the air. You know, your father feeds them. Are you not much more precious than he talks about flowers in the field and says, look, the here today gone tomorrow. How much more even in their splendour and their beauty, how much more will your father not also clothe you and, you know, say whereas nowadays sometimes busy, busy, busy is like a bragging point.

00:04:42.740]
It’s like that badge of honour that sometimes we wear. It’s also something that we can become habitual, habitual in our response. Oh, hi. How are you? Busy. How are you doing? Oh, I’m busy. How was last week. Well, baby was busy and it becomes instead of the refrain being it was good. It was good. It was very, very good. I’m celebrating what what I’m producing. I’m celebrating what God is doing in me and in my life.

00:05:16.670]
We instead replace that with this modern kind of chorus of busyness. But busy is not the badge that we wear. Busy is not the badge of honour. The badge of honour is not unbusy. The badge of honour is. I am blessed if we look in the end right there, back in the very, very first few chapters of Genesis, it says God bless them, speaking of mankind, men and women, and said Be fruitful and multiply.

00:05:51.800]
Speaking of productivity, they did a pretty good job, I think, when it came to being fruitful and multiplying. But this blessing is one that God has really given to mankind. This this fatherly blessing, this Bisto moment is still at work. If we will step into it, if we will believe it, if we accept it, that God has not called you to just be busy, he’s called you to be blessed, that there is a favour that that attends your life.

00:06:31.970]
And I don’t think that this first blessing can be overemphasised. You know, it was that it’s really the first endowment of power to prosper. And it also came with with authority to do so. It empowered Adam and Eve to actually be the fulfilment of that blessing and that word. And so I really would say we do not have to be busy to be blessed. The Bible talks about the the reality that there is a rest that remains for the people of God and that we can step into that rest of faith and begin to operate from that place.

00:07:21.920]
You know, prosperity, I kind of wrote this morning, is not the result of striving. It’s the fruit of staying connected to the life giving vine. I mean, and by that, what that comes from is scripture that Jesus himself was speaking to his followers and he told them, look, abide in me and I in you because the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more. No more. Can you accept you abide in me.

00:07:53.780]
I’m the vine and you are the branches he that abides in me and I in him. The same will bring forth much fruit because without me you can do nothing and say here we have a promise of fruitfulness and really God’s direction. How to plug into that. You know, it’s very rare that you would see an apple tree straining to produce an apple through its branches. It’s very unlikely that you will see an oak tree like straightening and trying hard to produce an acorn.

00:08:34.280]
It just happens naturally. It flows from the core and flows through the branches to. The leaves to the fruits and the fruit is born as a result of the nourishment coming up through the roots. We as creative Christians are rooted and grounded in the rich soil of God’s love. We are rooted and grounded in the blessing that he has given to us, the rooted and grounded in the blessing that he has spoken over mankind. And I just so encourage you today that this is the place of your fruitfulness.

00:09:20.430]
God delights to prosper his people. You know, he’s overjoyed when his servant, you know, the Bible says that he he rejoices in the prosperity of his servants. And even more so when those servants recognise that they are sons, that there’s this relationship that we’ve been called into and, you know, whereas we usually are in a rush to produce. I mean, that’s just part of that whole mindset, that whole kind of let’s let’s make more, do more, be more.

00:09:52.890]
Is that part of that whole mindset? Is that kind of we’re on this hamster wheel having to fill every moment with something that’s kind of tangibly producing or making or doing something? But I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that God is not in such a rush. I found that God does not seem to be quite so concerned with impressing the world as maybe we are, you know, even though he is magnificently impressive and you know, really what I think this comes down to and more and more, I, I keep swinging around to this and and I’ll keep reminding myself that whereas I might be working on my business, he’s actually working on me, whereas you might be working on your business or your projects or whatever they may be.

00:10:49.480]
He is, meanwhile, in the midst of that through that, in that he is working on you because we make craft products, we make craft books, we make craft websites, we make craft paintings. We make craft all sorts of different things. But what God makes is people what God builds is people what God develops and what God blesses and what God raises up. And what God shapes is sons and daughters. He crafts character and in whatever you’re doing.

00:11:30.420]
Whether whether you whether you are being shaped by success or whether you are being shaped by the challenges that you are climbing through and working through and learning from in all of that in in both the the tough and the the times of kind of prosperity and ease, if you like, in all of that, God continues to work and shape and mould our character because whereas a lot of things will pass away, you will not. And God is shaping you for something far greater than just the role and the stewardship that you have here during this lifetime.

00:12:20.070]
And he will take every opportunity he can to leverage and utilise the things that you are involved in, in the assignments that you are fulfilling on the planet. He he will utilise and leverage every single one of them for your benefit. And by your benefit, I mean the person that you are becoming, not just here and now, but, you know, beyond this day, beyond this time in the world to come. And it so again, it’s really just reaching out to encourage you, you know, to kind of sometimes it’s a good thing.

00:13:00.600]
And I do try and practise this. Sometimes I need to be reminded that we should be pressing the pause button and just always kind of making sure that we stay aligned with our purpose and that we’ll know where that we’re walking in our purpose when we experience peace. And that doesn’t mean just outward circumstances are free of conflict. But what it does mean is that there is a peace that goes beyond the natural peace, that goes beyond understanding. And I think actually a sign of that peace and a mark of that peaceful life and that restful walk is that we do celebrate our wins, that we do swing round and take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come, to appreciate the work of God in our lives, in the midst of the work that we are doing, because it really is a beautiful work in our God.

00:14:12.090]
God, I don’t think is is in a rush because he doesn’t just come in and do a cheap job. He doesn’t come in. And just like Bish Bash Bosh and then send a bill, you know, he he paid the full price and he is very, very intimately and very wonderfully involved in. The making of the man or the woman that is you. And from that place, you know, as we as we lead into that reality, as we lead in to his grace, as we lead into his love, we will grow.

00:14:57.520]
You will grow, you will develop. You will become a bigger, fuller, more complete person on the inside. And then from that place. This fruitfulness that we’re talking about, this fulness that we’re talking about, will begin to manifest itself in so many ways, including finances. You know, we yearn to earn. Of course we do. We’re eager for impact. We want to grow. I totally get that. I totally relate to that.

00:15:30.760]
But it’s going to spring from this supernatural connexion that we have with the one who brings the increase, as I say, many, many times. And I never grow tired of saying Jesus first. Everything else follows. Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.