Ep. 4 Presence Over Performance: Why God Isn't Impressed with Your Hustle

Transcript

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Are you ready to build a life, business and legacy that truly lasts? Welcome to Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne, where Faith meets real talk. Biblical wisdom meets everyday life and leadership meets laughter. Together we will uncover God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission, helping faith-driven leaders invest in what matters most. Each episode, we explore biblical wisdom, have real conversations, and of course, have some fun along the way because let's be real. Walking in faith is an adventure. It sure is. So pull up a seat, grab your coffee or your sweet tea, and join us as we steward our callings with intention, because when we invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase. Welcome back to Faithfully Invested, where we are diving deep into God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission. One Kingdom Principle at a time. One. Just one at a time. At a time. We're your host, Allen and Stacey, Joe Thorn, and this season we're focusing on the foundation of it all intimacy. With God. And today we're coming for your hustle. Look out. Yep. We are going there. And if you've don't stay tuned. Oh, don't shut him off. Definitely stay tuned. It's all right. But if you've ever felt like you, the more you do for God, the closer he'll be. You're not alone. You're definitely not alone. I've been there. I'll tell you, you're not alone. And I remind, have to remind myself that. You know that's not the case often. That's certainly not the case. You know what the truth is? What's the truth? This is gonna sting ho. Hold on, hold on. God's not impressed with how busy you are. It's true. He is not impressed with how busy we are. He is not looking at a resume. The good lord's looking at our heart, at our heart because he's a relational God. Mm-hmm. And it's, it's our hearts that foster the relationship that we were created to have with him. Right. So let's Talk today about why presence matters more than performance. Hmm. Well, let's start with a question. Are you asking me that question? I'm asking everybody that question. Okay. All right. Ask, asking everybody. Have you had ever had a to-do list that was so long that you felt like taking a nap, just thinking about it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Every day. Just about every day, all the time. And. I, I gotta, I gotta tell you what I used to do though. I used to add things to my list that I'd already. Done just so I could check'em off, like brushed my teeth, check fed the dogs check. I'm like, look at me. Jesus. I am crushing it today. Hey lady, I fed the dogs today and I emptied a dishwasher. Whoa. I'm not saying today, but you know, other days I didn't do that. Today, we'll give you two points for brushing your teeth. You know, fresh breath and dental hygiene are important. You are a winner. All right? But seriously, you know, y'all, we live in a culture that applauds hustle. We do hustle and grind. Hustle and grind. How many times have you heard that? You know, the more we do, the better. And if you're not grinding, you're not growing. But that hustle culture doesn't fit well in the Lord's kingdom. I'm just gonna let you know that's just not how intimacy works. It's not how intimacy works for us, and it's certainly not how intimacy works with the Lord. Certainly not take it from me. Mm-hmm. You can be producing for the Lord. Yeah. And feel pretty darn disconnected from the Lord. Absolutely. Absolutely. So here's the challenge, and you know, we say challenge, just a reminder. We say challenge, not problem. Because there are no, no problems. We don't have problems. We face challenges. We challenges because we are overcomers. That's right. And so are you. So are you. You don't have problems. You face challenges, overcomer. That's right. But somewhere along the way we confused Allen. We confused. Doing good things for God. With being with God. Yeah. Honestly that's, that's a dangerous and slippery slope to be on. It is sometimes we get caught in a lie that our efforts equal closeness. Mm-hmm. Know that if we do more, if we serve more, if we, if we lead more than then God will be proud of us. Oh, I lived that for so many years. We're looking for that gold star. I lived that for so many years. Wow. Yeah. That gold star. But let's go to the Bible for a minute. You know, in Luke 10, Jesus visits, you know where this is going. Yeah. Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha. And what does Martha do? Oh, she gets busy. She goes to work. She's cleaning, she's preparing. She's making more than worthy hummus platters probably. But while Mary is just sitting at Jesus's feet, Mary's chilling. She is chilling. Mary's like Jesus is here. Yes. She was just enjoying the presence of the Lord. In her home. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, I can, uh, I can be, I can, uh, relate to this one. I know this one pretty well. Uh, and what does Jesus say? He says, Martha. Martha. Yeah. You were worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Yeah. And Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Yeah. That probably didn't sit too well with Martha at the time, but you see, Jesus wasn't, he wasn't, it wasn't perfect works that pleased Jesus. It was taking time to just be still and sit with him. That's what mattered to Jesus. That's what mattered to him then. Yeah. And that's what matters to him now. Right. You know, I just, I wanna be clear about something though. I, you know, Jesus wasn't rebuking. Martha's work. No. He was just trying to redirect her heart. Right, right. Because he wanted her heart, just like he wanted Mary's and Mary was willing to sit there and listen. Right. What a, so yeah, what a great juxtaposition. Right, right. Ju juxtaposition. Yeah. All right. In some contrast. Anyway, moving on. Your big words. Well, anyway, it's a fun word just to say juxta. Juxtaposition. Juxtaposition. Anyway, I gotta admit that. Uh, I gotta admit, you know? Mm-hmm. I like big words and I, I like to get things done. Yeah. I've called you Martha a few times, I have to admit. Anyway. I am sure you're not the only one. Over the years, oftentimes, I, I took that strong work ethic thing to the fault line. Yeah. And I've, I, I gotta say, I have recognized an affinity in myself to learn lessons the hard way. Say it isn't so, haven't we all? Yeah. Well, don't we all learn lessons the hard way? Yeah. I'd write, I'd plan, I'd prep, I'd decimate the to-do list, and I would just be worn out. I mean, I didn't feel advanced spiritually at all. So why do you think that might be? I'm sorry to say that I was so wound up in getting it all done. I didn't start with seeking the Lord's perspective. Mm. I should have started with seeking his perspective. Yeah. Was I even doing what he wanted me to do? Mm. Might he had a, might he have had a better plan or purpose for the work that I was doing if I had brought him in as, as my CEO there? Ooh. I think he, I think he probably always, not probably, he always has a better plan than mine and you know, oftentimes I've recognized that I gotta slow down, take it to him so that, you know, we might go faster or we might. Change gears. We might change the plan. Maybe. Maybe my plan's way off. Well, you know, I like to say that Jesus is my CEO You of Freedom support Solutions. I kind of took that from you. You did. And that's fine. But here's the thing, sometimes, sometimes I try and take that seat back. Yeah. You know? And. I have to be reminded that his ways are always higher. Right? And his thoughts are always greater. The throne is his than mine. It's his, it's his, he gets the seat at the head of the table. But, you know, I, I relate to everything that you just said because I too have poured. Things into everyone else sometimes. Mm. And doing well in the kingdom. But, but deep down, I, I was running on fumes. I mean, you've seeded me. Yeah. At best you've seen me. Yeah. Right. I mean, I, I can, I'm gonna go off. How's that here for a second? I'm just gonna say, Jackson Brown song goes running on, running on empty, running on, oh, I don't know that song. Anyway, but it wasn't all maybe a year ago that I was on the kitchen floor, just crying out to God because I was so burned out. I had no margin. I had no place. Wow. No space for God to speak. And it wasn't until I was on that kitchen floor asking him and crying out to him that that I listened and I heard what he had to say. I. I, I was, I was on the verge of burnout. Yeah. There, yeah. You know, his, his strength confession is good for the soul, right? It is. His strength is made. Made powerful in our weakness. Mm-hmm. Yes. Amen. That, that's good stuff, babe. Amen. I, again, uh, I honestly can't say that I recall any time that I was fully burned out. Mm-hmm. But honestly, many times I was, I was exhausted and I knew the burnout wasn't far off. Yeah. I had to stop, I had to slow down. I had to reset my zeroes. I had the rest for a little bit. And in that vulnerable state, he began to show me how his strength is made perfect. In my weakness. Yeah. And it was, uh, that's good. This is what it took back then to get me to realize that intimacy with God is not about getting it done. It's not about getting it done. It's about being still and knowing that he alone is God. Yeah. That I'm not God, that He alone as God. Yeah. And I need to rely on him, not so much myself. Yeah. And you know, for anyone out there listening who's felt invisible, unless they're producing something, please know that you are seen. God sees you, he does. And his love is not based on your production rate, your sales, your gross profit, your net profit. It is not based on any of that. He just wants your heart. Right. He's, he's looking at the condition of her heart. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So let's get practical here. Okay. You wanna get practical? We got some solutions. Oh, let's get practical. We don't. Got you. Like practicality, we don't, Jessica. I do. Mm-hmm. I'm, I'm a, I'm a pragmatic fella, right? So. I will take function over fashion most every time. Mm-hmm. So let's get, that's the blue shirts. So here, here we go. There's always on the blue shirts. Always on the blue shirts. Anyway, they're like, what? What? Oh, if you know him, you know, if you know, you know, so chemo saying, ah, the blue shirt. So if you've ever been caught up in the brutal, you know, get it all done. Now, mode here, this is for you. We got four ways to, to downshift, slow down, and. Get into a proper position from performance to presence. Yeah. I love the simplicity of these four points. Number one, I love that word, simplicity. I'm just saying simplicity. Simplicity. I love the simplicity of simplicity. I do. Me too. Anyway, it's so simple. Moving on. We gotta schedule number one. We gotta schedule. Yes. And, and and the man said, schedule. We gotta schedule time for silence and solitude. Mm-hmm. Because I'm telling you what. If you're like me, if it's not on the calendar, then it doesn't get done. Yeah. So we gotta take the time to block the time to get on our calendar to be with the Lord. Yeah. This is not a box to check. It's a practical way to reset our zeros and set our day up for success right out of the gate. That's it. We got and remember, no agenda. Mm-hmm. Just you and him. Yeah. You know, I, I have to say, Allen, I'm not tooting my own horn, but I have actually put that on my calendar because I am like you, and if it's not on my calendar, it doesn't get done. That's it. And it, it's not a matter of checklists because we've done away with the checklist. We've said, no checklists here. Boo checklist, but not when it comes to the Lord. I have checklists in other areas, but you know, I had to block time on my calendar first thing in the morning. It says literally on my calendar, if you look at it, it says, time with Jesus. Time with Jesus. And it is just time for me to spend in His word in prayer in seeking what he wants to say to me. Yeah, man. Whether it's the the logos word or the Ramos word. That's it. So, but number two is ask simple questions so you can simply say, Lord, am I operating inside your will? Yeah. Am I operating inside your will, not, not anyone else's will. And if your tireless efforts are rooted in self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, yuck. I hate that word, but Oh well. You know, it's challenging. Yeah. Challenging to move past, but we have to pause. Yeah. We have to realign and we have to ask him what his plan is, and then we have to listen and write that down like we talked about. The only thing I've ever seen move me past self-sufficiency is his plan. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'd say that true in write down in my life too. Down. Yeah. Gotta write it down. Write it down. Yep. What's number three? Tell us. You gotta rest intentionally. You gotta be intentional about taking rest. Mm-hmm. Remember? The Sabbath. Mm-hmm. God doesn't suggest it. He commanded it and he modeled it. So don't believe the lie that rest is lazy. No friends, rest is holy. Yeah. And honestly, sometimes the most Christian thing that I can do is get away and take a nap. Yeah, you do everybody a favor. Naps is good. Sometimes naps is good sometimes, but rest doesn't necessarily, I mean, remembering the Sabbath doesn't necessarily mean you have to be. Sleeping. No, it doesn't mean you have to be napping. Like rest different things from different people. Yeah. It looks different to different people. Rest. People rest can be play. Yeah. But that's a conversation for another kid. It is. So I, I digress and I'm gonna get back to number four that says start the day with him. Right. His time first. Yeah. To do time after. Yeah, the to-do list comes after our time. Mm-hmm. With him. You gotta start today. Even if it's just for five minutes. Mm-hmm. Five intentional minutes. Start there. If that's what, if that's what works for you. Yeah. And then go from there. We gotta start somewhere. We gotta start some time. So start with five minutes. Yep. And you'll see that that time and it presence will change the entire trajectory of your day. Yeah. And it's, it's important that we see this not as a got to, it's not a box to check. It's not a got to, it's a get to. When it, when it looks, when we think about it as a got to, it does become that box to check on that checklist. Most likely not gonna do. We did away with. Right. It's not gonna, we're not gonna do it. We get to sit with the creator of the universe. Yeah. We get to sit with our father God. Mm-hmm. We get to listen to his divine perspective for what he's got when we're willing to do that. Yeah. But you know, Jesus often withdrew to lonely places, not because he was burned out, but because he prioritized presence over pressure. Yeah. And he needed it and so do we. Like he needed to get a loan with his father. He knew what's up in the garden. He knew what was up. He knew what's up. He got a loan with his. He's the greatest example of all time. He is of all time. Of course. He's the og. I was, I would say he's the goat. He is the goat. Jesus is definitely the greatest of all time, for sure. Yes. Bar none, right? Yes. Anyway, moving on. But he did. We we need. We need the rest. We need the rest. And it is commanded. It's not just suggested it's commanded. It is commanded. Mm-hmm. That's it. Presence over pressure. Mm-hmm. I like that. Mm-hmm. You know? Who else likes that? The Lord. Oh yes, yes. Presence. Taking time to sit in his presence. Yeah. Presence with him. Mm-hmm. Over the, the pressures of getting it done. Yeah. Yeah. So intimacy with our creator, father God, doesn't, doesn't come from grinding harder. It comes from leaning closer. Yeah. Remember Jesus's words in Matthew 11? This was my main verse in 2024. Yeah. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. We have an opportunity every day to learn from Jesus Christ. Yeah. Through His Holy Spirit. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Dear friends. His yoke is easy. Yeah. And his burden is light. We encourage you to yoke up with with him, yoke up with Jesus, and he will give you rest for your soul. I promise y'all that. You'll never regret that, but more so He promises you. You'll never regret that. He is so good to us when we let him be so good to us. Yeah. He's not gonna kick down the door to be good. No. We have to let him be good to us. He's knocking. We gotta open the door's, not right. We have a choice to make. We do a decision. Mmm. Long term decision. Yeah. Yeah. Another conversation for another time. Oh, we have lots of conversations that we can have. We're just getting started. We're just getting started. But you know, we always have a call to action and a challenge for you. So here is your faithfully invested challenge this week. Look at your calendar. Carve out 15 minutes. Is that all? Oh. You can do more. Gotta start somewhere, but you have to start somewhere. But carve out at least, let's say that at least, at least 15 minutes. 15 minutes that are just for God. Right. No podcast, no worship playlist. I, I like, I do like to put on, I do like to put on, um, some soaking music soaking, but don't have faithfully invested on. We want you to listen, but not during that, that time with God. Quiet time just for you right in the Lord. So just you a journal and his presence is all you need that's happening right there. Mm-hmm. That's good stuff. And he, while you're, while you're with them, ask him the question, Lord, what have I been doing from pressure instead of seeking your presence? Mm. You might be surprised what he tells you. Yeah. It's important to listen intentionally.'cause the Lord gave us. Uh, two ears. Mm-hmm. And one mouth. So we can listen twice as much as we speak. Yeah. So we wanna listen intentionally and we wanna make our adjustments based on his higher and greater perspective. Yeah. So good babe. So good. He is so good. He is. But that was a good word. So ask him, Lord, what have I been doing from pressure instead of seeking your presence. Yeah. And next week we're gonna talk about one of my favorite subjects. It's not me. It's not you. I do love talking about you too. I love talking you up, but, but no, we are gonna talk about worship, right? And how it's not just something we do on Sunday mornings. A lot of people think that, oh yeah, I'm going to worship service and we're gonna worship the Lord. But it worship is a lifestyle. It is. And actually it, it aligns your heart with heaven. It aligns mine with heaven. When I'm in the worship, worship in the right thing. Oh, well, yeah. When we're worshiping the Lord, we're talking about worship for the Lord. We're talking faithfully invested here in the Lord. That what I talking intimacy with him. Right. Uh, we're not talking about, you know, worshiping anything else. Right. But only him. Right. Our creator. But I love, I worship in the kitchen. Yeah. I worship in the shower. I worship in the car. There's no place that she doesn't worship. I can attest to that. Okay. Well, and if you were encouraged by this episode today, do us a favor, share it with a friend, and let us know your thoughts by leaving us a five star review. Five star review on this week. Do yourself a favor and lay down the pressure and make time to rest in his presence. And remember, when you are faithfully invested, God brings the increase. Yes, he does. And we'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. Thanks for joining us on Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo, if today's conversation encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see your calling more clearly, don't keep it to yourself. That's right. Share it with a friend. Leave a five star review and keep leaning into God's blueprint for your life, your leadership, and your legacy. So until next time, remember, when you invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.