Live the Simple Life

I prayed for God to change me and my approach to life. I learned
that He wanted me to simplify so that, ultimately, He could be
glorified.

Jesus said He came so we might have and enjoy our lives in abundance
(see John 10:10). His principles are simple. Faith is simple.

Trusting God is simple. A childlike approach to Him is simple, and His plan of salvation is too.

Jesus offers us a “new way of living,” and I believe it is a simple,
yet powerful way that enables us to enjoy everyday life. Since I began
this pursuit for simplicity, I have discovered many ways to simplify my
life, and one of them involves doing away with unrealistic expectations
of others and myself.

Unrealistic expectations can quickly steal our peace and joy. We
usually visualize a perfect day, with perfect people, and ourselves
being perfectly happy in our perfect little world, but we all know that
isn't reality. What is real is that only God is perfect and the rest of
us are under construction.

The devil knows what steals our peace and he sets us up to get
upset. Instead of freaking out when things don't go exactly the way you
planned, why not plan for some “boo-boos”?

In the last three days, I have broken a dish (that was new), spilled
water out of a humidifier all over the floor, dropped the container of
dog food and worked at trying to keep my dog out of it while I picked
it up, and had four keys made for a door and none of them worked! I
could probably think of more if I thought long enough.

These kinds of things once got me very upset. I would huff and puff
and murmur and complain and talk about how nothing ever worked out
right. None of that stopped those incidents from happening. As a matter
of fact, my frustration caused me to lose my focus and create more
accidents and mishaps.

After years of letting the devil steal my peace-and I am quite sure
laugh at me-I finally got it. Life is not perfect, and things are going
to happen that we did not plan for and would rather not have. My new
attitude has become, “Oh well, that's life!” I have discovered that if
I don't let those things impress me, then they can't depress me.

Everyone has to deal with inconveniences, but we can deal with them
and avoid a bad attitude. In fact, life is all about choices. We can
choose to do what needs to be done and systematically do it.

It may be tough at first, especially if you haven't been disciplined
in the past, but the rewards of order and restraint are worth the
effort. The Bible says that discipline brings peaceable fruit (see Heb.
12:11).

Practice living one day at a time; give every part of you to the day
at hand. You will sense an awareness enabling you to enjoy the current
activity instead of going through each day in a blur that leaves you
exhausted. You can begin to enjoy the simple life that God has waiting
for you, as well as the eternal blessings that come from trusting His
will for your life.