by Emma McCarthy, EM Summer Staff in Portland, Maine
We live in a noisy world, friends.
This has become apparent to me in the last two weeks here in Portland as my mornings begin with cars honking, music blaring, and sirens whistling outside my window. And it doesn't end there—the noise always continues throughout the day with kids laughing and screaming, phones ringing, and a whole lot of people chattering over one another. Many days it's inescapable, and it seems as if our culture has become so accustomed to it that we are increasingly uncomfortable with silence.
The culprit of this phenomenon, I believe, is our obsession with doing. We are absolutely consumed by busyness and caught up in the lie that says our worth is measured by levels of productivity and success. We fear time wasted and so we spend our days doing, making a lot of noise in the process.
Since arriving in Portland, I have realized this mindset makes it entirely too easy to completely miss what God is doing. Our souls become so in tune with the noise and the chaos that they become unseeing and unhearing to the greater things of the kingdom occurring around us. The loudness drowns out the voice of the Lord and our narrow gaze blocks the view of His work. He's doing amazing things, friends, but if we're not paying attention, we just might miss it.
And I almost did miss it this week. I'll be transparent with you: life here is busy. There's a lot to be done on any given day and despite the fact it's centered around ministry and proclaiming Christ, it's still easy to fall into the trap of to-do lists and strict schedules and completely neglect the people around you. Just earlier this week during Kid's Club, my mind was completely distracted with all the "do's" of the day that I forced myself to multi-task: to sort through my head and the lists of things to come and also be present with Abdul, one of the kids in the program, while we played with Play-Doh. Abdul wasn't fooled, however, and he wanted my full attention. At one point during the day, he pulled gently on my shirt and looked up at me with those big eyes of his, "Emma! Look! Watch me!" The Holy Spirit nudged me in that moment, pressing on me: Emma, listen. There's something greater going on here.
In that moment, Abdul didn't want me to "do." He just wanted me to "be"—to be attentive, watchful, and present. He wasn't concerned about the many tasks ahead, but rather with my presence and being completely there in the moment. Doing would have been more harmful to our relationship in that moment than simply being. And I have to wonder if the same applies with our relationship with Jesus.
I fear that we've become so engulfed in doing, even within the realms of ministry and missions. We strive toward goals and victories—ones that are certainly God-honoring and kingdom focused—yet fail to see what is happening right in front of our faces because our sight has become narrow. I have found in my own walk the reality of being half present with the Lord, with the other half of me gazing upon the various battles and responsibilities before me. We work our fingers down to the bone in attempt to reach intimacy with the Father and proclaim His kingdom, yet He tells us in his word to "be still," or in other translations, to "cease striving" (Psalm 46:10). The ISV says, "Be in awe and know that I am God." All of these translations encourage the idea of being. Be still. Be in awe. Be at peace. It's in these words I see the beauty of quieting our souls from the busyness—to cease striving—and simply beholding who He is. When we're focused on being and resting in Him, we're able to look and listen much more clearly at what He's doing. Once we have a chance to be, doing gets a whole lot easier and we have the chance to see and join in on the works of His hands. And friends, the works of His hands are too great to miss.
Here's a very small glimpse of what we've seen the Lord do in the past two weeks:
- He mobilized three teams from Michigan, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania to join us here in southeast Maine over the past two weeks. Each team came with unique skill sets, personalities, and stories, yet all came with the same desire to serve and see His glory.
- We've seen His hand at both the Lewiston and Portland Root Cellars as teams helped with Kid's Club and various projects around the facility.
- Teams have also had the opportunity to serve at Preble Street and alongside Portland Housing Authority, as they will each week. In addition, on Tuesday nights teams participate in the Neighbor's Ministry, where food, clothing and other items are handed out, relationships are built, and the gospel is shared.
There's so much going on here in Portland and I wish I could give a more complete picture. But keep praying, friends. The Lord is working in incredible ways!
LEARN MORE | Bring your team on a mission trip to Portland in 2017!
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