Will You Give Me Your Efficiency?

During the Pursue Fast in August, I was happily going about my life, and all of a sudden, I felt the question from the Lord: “Will you give me your efficiency?”

When the Lord asks you a question like that, of course the answer is, Yes, Lord, be it unto me according to your word.

But the other side of me thought, “Oh, that's what we're going after now.”

My dissertation was in supernatural productivity! (No joke!) I have studied and optimized my life for efficiency since I was fourteen years old, so most of my life, my working question has been: what is the next thing, and how can I get there as quickly as possible?

But since that question, the Lord invited me to do a three-day fast (which for me is a lot). I spent two of the three days mostly in bed, moving as little as possible, and not being particularly efficient. 

But because that was the Lord’s invitation for those three days, that felt like exactly what I was supposed to be doing at the time.

Then my son ended up in the hospital for appendicitis. Not a terribly long stay, but more days in the hospital than all five of my births combined. 

But once the Lord reminded me that I had given him my efficiency, every interruption for vitals or food orders became almost a little joke. “Not as efficient—right where I’m supposed to be.”

And if I found a few minutes here and there to work on a project … thanks be to God. And if my mind felt a little bit too scattered to be able to string two sentences together … then, again, thanks be to God. 

And every time I would think about giving him my efficiency, I would feel the Lord’s pleasure with me: “Daughter, you are right where you're supposed to be. It's not your preference, but you are being faithful with what's in your hand.”

So from this place of the Lord’s pleasure, I have a blessing and an impartation.

Lord, you have put into our hands different things to do to walk faithfully with you. As I think about my friends: some are sick, and recovery is taking longer than we’d wish. Some are in need of a financial breakthrough, and that’s also taking longer than we’d wish. Some have a lot of paperwork to deal with (ugh), and there’s really no amount of paperwork that ever sounds fun, so that’s definitely taking longer than we’d wish.

Lord, for these and the other myriad ways you ask us to walk with you, may we walk in faithfulness, and feel your presence and your pleasure. 

Lord, I have been so deeply moved that you are El Roi, the God who sees. Thank you. Amen. 

They shall give him the name Emmanuel, which means “God with us,”

Amy Joy

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