A Life of Simplicity
After searching through job banks in Washington D.C., I began working at a lobbying office full of political analysts and think-tank gurus. I plunged into my career life with zeal.
The commute and the hours were long and it didn’t pay enough, but I thrived on the excitement of politics. I was also beginning to date someone seriously. Between my new job and this new relationship, I definitely had my hands full.
Soon, I was getting less sleep and had no time for lunch or exercise. I lacked energy, but sustained myself at work with lots of coffee.
I thought of moving downtown to free up time, but that would eliminate involvement at my church or with my family, both located nearly 30 miles outside the city. My life was becoming my job, and I didn’t know how to find a balance.
Anxiety from work was building, keeping me up at night and adding to my emotional exhaustion. Yet I just couldn’t see what to change or let go.
One sleepless night, I wept silently. Not understanding myself or why I was crying, I prayed to God for guidance and to show me how to live.
From that prayer ensued a year’s journey into the desert: Arizona.
My boss wanted to start a non-profit organization in Arizona and needed help. One morning, as the sun poured through my window, I prayed to God to tell me if moving to Arizona was the right decision. I only heard what had echoed in my mind for some time: I’ve called you to a life of simplicity.
With conflicting emotions, I took the opportunity and moved to the desert. At first, I doubted God’s ways. Not until three months later did it dawn on me that this move wasn’t about my career, but about God answering my prayer to show me how to live.
It was strange living and working alone in a new town with a five-minute commute when I was used to an hour. I could eat lunch at home. I had time to exercise. And I was now dating long distance. Suddenly, things weren’t so busy anymore, and God and I had ample time to talk.
He showed me that how I was living would lead to more stress, anxiety and busy-ness. To teach me how to live a more simple life, He didn’t stop with just rearranging my exterior life. He was also about to re-design my interior life.
- Trust God with the future. This job hadn’t shaped up the way I thought it would. I feared I might be wasting my time and even worse, missing rewarding opportunities back home. I was trying so hard to plan today for what might lay ahead in the future. But the truth was, only God knew. God lives outside of time, knowing past, present, and future. Furthermore, Jeremiah 29:11 says He has plans to prosper me, to give me hope and a future. So I gave Him permission to have His way with my career even though I didn’t see His reasons.
- Live from day to day. Not having the burden of planning my future freed up a lot of thought time. I could concentrate on God’s desires for the present moment. God says that each day has enough trouble of its own anyway (Matthew 6:34). Instead of praying about future events, I pondered the meaning of the Lord’s prayer to “Give me this day my daily bread.”
- Do not worry about tomorrow. God didn’t want me worrying about the future of my long-distance relationship either. Matthew 6:34 also says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Worrying is a distraction. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life (Matthew 6:27)?
- Be consumed with God. Instead of planning and worrying, I now had time to daydream about God—to let Him and His ways consume my thought-life. He said, “Fall into me. Let me hold you. Let me and my beauty and my greatness take you away from the worries of the day.” When I am consumed with God, I do not miss His guiding words.
- Sell all you have. Jesus told the rich man who wanted to follow him that he must sell everything he had. But when the rich man heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth (Luke 18:23). His wealth held him back from becoming a true disciple. Dreams close to my heart–a fulfilling job or getting married–were like possessions keeping me from following God. These “possessions” would only complicate my life. I gave them to God, and I determined to seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33).
God had to send me to the desert to teach me how to live. Now I am back in the city I love, but I am freer – carrying fewer burdens – in short, living simpler, and living for God!
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