JEWELS ON GOING SLOW AND RESTING IN THE LORD!    Maria #227       DO 2939  9/94
By Maria

(The following jewels were given by Mama over the last few years:)

Take It Easy and Don't Get Overburdened!
         1. I've been reading about a number of Family members, not just leaders, who have been having near nervous breakdowns because they are under too much pressure and have too much to do. It's sad to think of what can happen if you get overpressured to the point that you have a nervous breakdown. That's what intense pressure over a long period of time often leads to if you don't rest in the Lord and take it easy.
         2. You've got to slow down and trust the Lord and just decide that you can only do so much and no more, and if it doesn't get done, then it doesn't get done! The Lord won't give you more than you can bear, so there's got to be some solution.--Or if there's not some solution, then the answer is just to let it go and not get it done! The Lord will take care of things even if we can't do it. It's the Lord's work, so you certainly don't need to try to take the whole burden on yourselves!
         3. It's good for all of us to keep in mind that if we get so burdened and so pressured that we get sick, or run down or have a nervous breakdown, then we're going to be completely out of action and not be able to do anything! So isn't it better to take it a little slower? Even though you won't get everything done, you'll still be able to get quite a bit accomplished while staying healthy and happy.
         4. You might as well slow down, decide where your limits are and just do so much and no more, according to what you can handle, and just leave the other until later. Because if you try to do too much, all the work you do is going to suffer! Even if you don't have a breakdown or illness, you're going to be cranky and grouchy and you're not going to get enough time in the Word, so you'll suffer one way or the other. And others are going to suffer too; the Lord's work is going to suffer!
         5. So one way or the other, you'll have to slow down.--Either because you wisely choose to, or because you're forced to because you get sick physically, mentally or spiritually. So why not slow down and take it a little easier before things get so bad? Why not do it because you know you need to instead of waiting until you have to?
         6. Some of you have a wonderful sense of responsibility, but sometimes you almost feel too responsible. You feel responsible for much more than you should be responsible for. It's too much for anyone to try to constantly bear such burdens! All of our jobs are too big for anyone to handle, so we just have to give them over to the Lord and let Him do it. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you!" (Psa.55:22; 1Pet.5:7).
         7. The Lord knows we have our limits.--And He wishes that we would wake up and realize it. He not only wants us to be aware of them, but He wants us to let others know also--and then the Lord can get the credit for anything that gets done. Praise the Lord!

Go at a Slower Pace Day by Day!
         8. So many of our precious Family members go day after day after day, high-strung, nervous, on call 24 hours a day, moving practically at breakneck speed with one problem after the other knocking at their door. Maybe they're even faithful to take little Word and Rest days or a vacation every once in a while, but that's not enough. Even if you take a day off every month, or every ten days, or every week, it's not enough. That constant strain and pressure is not sufficiently relieved by a day or two off every once in a while.
         9. I believe the solution is for everybody to slow down and go at a slower daily pace. Maybe we could find ways to slow everything down by putting guidelines or restrictions on things, like trying to reduce the number of meetings people need to attend, or the number of reports they have to write--not just for the top leaders, but for everybody. Maybe those who are doing too much could be scheduled with less work, and those who aren't doing as much as they could be or need to be doing could be scheduled with a little more work to share the load and even things out. You may be able to save a lot of time just through proper scheduling and shepherding, and everyone would receive the benefits.

The Family Expects Quick Results!
         10. In the Family we really expect quick results! In our witnessing, our memory work, training of people, in almost everything, we think it all should be zip zap, abracadabra and it's done! That's the way we train people! We give them a two-hour class on some computer program and think that's all they need. From then on we expect them to know it. Or we train someone for a couple of days in the kitchen and we think that by then they ought to be right in the stream of it with no problems or mistakes.
         11. This quick-results attitude contributes to having a lack of patience, and even a lack of diligence and faithfulness. It's good that we do get some quick, miraculous results, but when we don't get them we think something's wrong and we get impatient, disappointed, discouraged, frustrated and condemned, which isn't good.
         12. When things don't move as quickly as we're used to, we shouldn't get impatient or frustrated or condemned or worried or feel that something's not right or not working right. Because not everything moves as fast as we're often used to, nor is it supposed to.
         13. Often, when we don't get healed miraculously, in a few hours or a day or two, we question the Lord. "Something must be wrong with me, Lord!" Or, "Something's wrong with our prayers, something's wrong somewhere!" Sometimes it is, and it's good to ask that question, but if you've asked it and you haven't found anything wrong, it's not good to keep insisting that there must be something wrong. Maybe nothing's wrong; maybe the Lord's trying to test your faith! Maybe you have lessons to learn through it.
         14. Everything goes so fast in the Family! We're living in the Time of the End and we want to accomplish so much, and we feel we've got to get everything done right now because time is so short! That's not a bad attitude in some ways, because it's true; we are living in the Time of the End, we don't have much time and the Lord does want us to get a lot done. But we need to see the other side and have the proper balance! We must realize that some things do take time and patience.
         15. Some of our most fruitful Homes have been those whose members have "shtuck" in the same place and have slowly and methodically cultivated a solid and fruitful work. They have faithfully ministered to new converts day after day, week after week, month after month, who have eventually become close friends and supporters. They've built good relations with the neighbors and the local community by gaining the reputation for being there when needed, volunteering to help, and not being a "fly by night" organization--"now you see them, now you don't!" They don't expect everything to happen overnight and they keep faithfully plugging along day after day.
         16. I would venture to say that most of the people in the Family haven't learned this lesson yet, and they're chomping at the bit to accomplish everything immediately. They're in such a hurry, and if things don't get done immediately they think something's wrong. God help us to learn the balance and to remember what Dad said in "Squeeze, Don't Jerk"--that it takes time to accomplish some things, and if we're too busy or going too fast, we'll miss some of what the Lord is trying to teach us!--And we may end up with a nervous breakdown!

Going Slower, Not Letting Yourself Get Pressured!
         17. Many times, either we leaders or others put the label of "urgent" or "this has to get done right away" on decisions or things that need to get done. But I wonder if most of these time demands are really necessary? Are they really that urgent? Can't it wait a little while so we can decide on it prayerfully and carefully? These things do have to be attended to, but do we need to be governed by what are usually unnecessary time pressures?
         18. People often think their project can't wait another minute and has got to be done right now! We can't let those demands get to us. We can't only listen to everybody's clamor, we've got to seek the Lord about what needs to be done first, what the priorities are. Like Dad has so often said, the Lord doesn't put burdens on you that are too heavy to bear; you put them on yourself, or allow someone else to place them on you.
         19. The alternative to slowing down and taking quiet time with the Lord is to try to do it in your own strength, which means you'll rush, rush, rush and go crazy trying to get everything done, which may eventually result in your having a nervous breakdown or your getting very sick. In either case, you'll be completely out of commission to the point that you can't do anything. The choice seems to be between slowing down and only doing part of what you've done before, but still getting something done, or keeping up a frantic pace until you collapse physically, mentally or spiritually and you can't get anything done! If we would look at it that way, I think it would help us all to understand that it's better to slow it down and still get a number of things done.
         20. Unless we're willing to just do what we can at a calm, moderate pace and put the rest aside until tomorrow or next week or next month, then we may end up not being able to do anything at all. This is a very good reason for slowing down.
         21. If you're overburdened and simply can't take on any more, you could tell people, "I'm sorry I can't answer you at the moment, but I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. I've got much more than I feel I can handle right now, and I just can't do it all. I might be able to take care of part of it or help counsel on part of it, but if I take on too much more I'm afraid I'll get sick from overwork or have a nervous breakdown and not be able to do anything. I don't mean to be rude, but I think I've just about reached my limit."
         22. Perhaps part of the problem is that we sometimes tend to think a little more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We feel that if we're not right there in the thick of the battle that things won't operate properly. We tend to feel rather indispensable. But if you carry on in that frame of mind, trying to do it all, answering all the questions and not only keeping your finger in every pie but trying to be the chief pie cook, you'll soon find out just how indispensable you are!--As you'll be laid up sick in bed somewhere. And when you are, you'll find out that things will go on without you.
         23. If something really is important and necessary, the Lord will help you to get to it in His time. But, as we've all found out, sometimes when we can't get to something that we think has to be done right away, the Lord will take care of it without our interfering. A lot of times when we wait and when we pray, the Lord will take care of things that someone said needed attention right this minute.
         24. We leaders should explain this to those with whom we work. We need to ask them, "Would you rather have a little of me or none of me?--A little of my help or none of my help?--Please don't keep pushing me for immediate answers or help. I'll do what I can, but you've got to calm yourself down and slow down. You've got to be willing to wait, or get some answers from the Lord on your own." In other words, everybody down the line has to try to slow it down a bit. If they come knocking at your door demanding an immediate answer and you say, "Well, sorry, I can't give it to you right now," that will make them slow down too.
         25. Of course, there is a balance to this. You shouldn't all of a sudden say, "Well, they told me to slow down, so now I'm just not going to do anything!" It requires a lot of prayerfulness and wisdom to know where the balance is--in everything, not just in this matter. I think that's one thing that makes good leaders, the ability to discern the proper balance in things.

Top Leaders Forced to Slow Down; Leaders' Responsibility to Help Their People to Slow Down
         26. In the last two or three years the Lord has done something in the lives of a lot of our top leaders to force them to slow down. Slowing down is one of the most difficult things for Family members to do. They see that the harvest is so white and the laborers are so few and the job is so monumental and there's so much to do and so many emergencies on top of their normal jobs and responsibilities. When faced with all that, slowing down is one of the hardest things to do, and I guess that's why the Lord has had to force a lot of us to slow down.
         27. I was thinking of Gary and his nervous breakdown, and Sharon and her nervous breakdown, which slowed both of them down. (Another one of our CROs was in a wheelchair for two months because of a back injury. Another has heart trouble which forces him to go much more slowly.) Also, myself with my eyes, which makes it impossible for me to do some of the things I thought I had to do. But the thing is, maybe some of the things that we think are essential for us to do personally, really aren't essential! Sometimes the Lord uses physical afflictions to slow us down, and sometimes He uses the mental, emotional and spiritual strain to do it.
         28. It seems that the Lord usually has to force us into it. Now, if the Lord has gone to such an effort to force top leaders into slowing down, doesn't it stand to reason that He considers going slower to be pretty important? And if He wants our leaders to go slow, then don't you think that's the way He wants us all to be? Don't you think that He's trying to teach that to all those who love Him and live for Him, not just the leaders? Don't you think He wants everyone to go slower and wait on Him and not depend so much on accomplishments as our standard of success?
         29. Of course, there's a little difference in practice and operation. Some of our folks can more freely schedule themselves than others, who are more restricted in their jobs. You can't say clear across the board that whenever any Family members need to stop and pray about something that they can drop everything and take a few hours in their room.
         30. But since they can't always stop and rest and pray any time they want to, then it's the responsibility of their over-shepherds to see that they have the time they need, and they'll be held accountable to the Lord, because the Home members can't do it on their own. They can't just take off whenever they want to; they're under the Home's schedule and restrictions. But if we don't give them that time, if we don't let them slow down to where they can hear from the Lord, so they don't get into the same busy, frazzled, hurried state that the Lord's trying to get us out of, if we don't allow them that, then we're going to be to blame. The Lord's going to hold us responsible for their not doing what they should do!
         31. All our Family have some kind of leadership responsibilities, and they all need rest and time with the Lord. If the Home is deciding their schedules, then the Home teamwork is going to have to schedule them wisely, giving everyone the time with the Lord that they need and an opportunity to go at the proper pace.--Or the teamwork is going to be at fault if they don't, and the Lord's not going to take it lightly!
         32. If He shows us leaders so much mercy and keeps the burdens from being so heavy on us, and helps us to slow down to be able to do the job as we should, and we don't in turn pass that on to others, we're going to be in trouble! So we'd better not only try to get ourselves going at a slower pace and listening more to the Lord, we'd better work on helping everyone achieve this. It's not some special dispensation or special treat for the leadership only! It's meant for all the Lord's people.
         33. Of course, if the Lord does give you time for rest and prayer and study of His Word, you must be faithful to redeem that time and use it wisely, realizing how very precious it is. If you need help in organizing your time, please ask for it. Maybe you can do better two by two. Word time can often be more profitable when it is taken in a team, with less temptation to daydream and more motivation to seek for answers. If you're not getting enough sleep, you may have a hard time concentrating on prayer and the Word, so if you need to sleep, don't condemn yourself. Go ahead and sleep and don't worry whether someone is going to think you are wasting time if they know you're sleeping. God made us to need sleep, and if you are so tired you can't concentrate on the Word or prayer, then you obviously need to sleep! However, you can't have all sleep and no Word, or all Word and no sleep. So pray for the proper balance and the time to do both, and work toward this goal.
         34. Dad has taught us that the worker is more important than the work--and that includes how you care for and treat yourself! (See 1Cor.6:19.) So you owe it to the Lord to set a moderate pace for yourself, don't push in your own strength, and get the proper balance of rest, Word, and time with the Lord. Rest in Him! And take care of yourself--and others. You belong to Him!


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