Hello. My name is Rainer (pronounced Ry-ner). I am a blogger. It’s been a week since my last post.
Last week, I started a new series focusing on freedom. You can read my first post of the series here.
I’ve spent a good bit of time the last few months seeking freedom from the noise. When I leave work, my mind seeks solace from the shouts of “Hey! Hey! Hey!” and the strains of a very demanding role in a homeless discipleship ministry experiencing tremendous growth and rapid change. As a key player in both initiating and implementing change, I wrestle with numerous challenges, including communication gaps and gaffs.
The Devotional Guy™
A big part of my job is making sure that all the components of the train are running properly and keeping the train running on time. This involves collaborating with other leaders, team members, and a sea of stakeholder. When asked to describe my role, I reply “people, problems, and projects.”
It’s easy to feel chained to the demands of outside factors that feed and fuel the noise. I need respite and refuge. I want freedom.
Lately, I’ve found freedom through art, specifically by learning to draw. Also, I’ve found refuge in music, particularly, chill instrumental piano music. This naturally leads to sitting down at my own piano and playing. In this space, I find freedom.
Through this process, I am able to focus more on Him and less on me. It helps me connect to my higher power—God—more deeply.
My friend, it is far too easy to fall prey to the bondage of busyness. The truth is that freedom is frequently found in our ability to be still and simply sit with God, listening, no words necessary.
How do you find solace amid the noise? Are you free?
As you stay busy becoming, don’t forget to be.
Peace,
The Devotional Guy™
#freedom
The Devotional Guy™ 
I love your thought about the balance that’s needed between being and becoming.
I can also relate to your people, projects, and problems description of your job. So much of being in any kind of administration involves “adulting” adults 🙃
Like you, I am an early riser. Weather permitting, I love to sit on the back porch, with my coffee, Bible, and journal, for the first hour of my waking morning. This is where I find my solace.
Blessings, brother!
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, David. Yes, the back patio is a place of solace for me as well.
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I love gardening in the morning and a walk in the afternoon. Both take me away from my busy work and help me get more creative for the creativity of some of the work I do
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Gardening is a great way to free your mind from the daily grind. Thanks for reading and sharing, Lisa.
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You are welcome 🙂
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Seeking solace and peace in the busyness of life is a forgotten necessity in life. Today I sought some time in the garden with a biography about Mozart; it’s not as much about learning as it is about just being free for a short time and relax. In this I can find reconnection with my Father God, and rejuvenation of my service for Him. Thank you for being an encouraging brother Rainer, God bless you today.
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Thank you, Alan. Which bio of Mozart are you reading?
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Hi brother, it’s not a high brow biography but a very readable one by John Suchet. He is an retired newsreader and a presenter on ClassicFM radio in the UK.
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My job is an hour away from home. And the drive home used to be my quiet time. But my job now allows me to work from home. I am very thankful for that. But I miss the quiet time I used to have. So I have to make an effort to get up before the rest of the house to help find that peace.
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Rainer, I appreciate how you present the things that bring you freedom from the noise and busyness in such a way as to invite each reader into the process of identifying in their own life what brings freedom. The beauty being that God is waiting in that stillness regardless of what activity has brought us to the quiet. For me, I find solace from the noise & busyness by rising before everyone else in the household and enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee over scripture than slipping out to walk the dogs before the neighborhood wakes up so I can enjoy a solitary walk filled with birdsong and sightings of deer, fox, and bear.
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Bridget, thanks for these insights. I find myself having to be intentional about carving out that space and time, too. Blessings.
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Fortunately, we don’t run into a lot of bears here in the ‘burbs 😀. We do have the occasional bobcat and coyote, though. Thank you for your encouraging observations and for sharing your “freedom” practice. You’re right. God is there, waiting to spend time with us, doing that thing that draws us closer to Him.
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Hi,
What a great post.
Yesterday we actually managed to finish the day feeling rested, refreshed and ready for a new week.
That restful place has been hard to find of late – ahead of a new week – so it was especially wonderful to wake up knowing we had actually rested!
I love your perspective of being and becoming…so very true.
Thanks for writing, and sharing, these words.
Andy B
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My pleasure, Andy. Thank you for taking time to read them and for responding to them. Have a blessed week.
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you’re very welcome.
and you too
Andy B
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Ranier, I wish I was reading this post during my former teaching days (40 years). The bondages of busyness can be overwhelming at times. Thankfully, I was able to find freedom and peace in the people whom I worked with, especially other adults.
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Thanks for sharing my blogpost!
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