Things get complicated as soon as we start talking about simplifying. Bring up the very idea of simplicity in life and people start looking for formulas and measuring sticks. We want to know how much we have to give up and still be able to claim the label of simplicity…or maybe, more accurately, how much we can hang onto. And are we talking just about quantity or are we addressing quality as well? Because maybe we could just downsize with a big yard sale, or start shopping at the Dollar Store. And do we really need to apply this to our calendars and being able to say no? (Now everyone’s feeling quite nervous, because isn’t our love measured by how much we are willing to do for our families?) It doesn’t even help to put simplicity in terms of an attitude or perspective. It’s just too foreign a concept for most of us twenty-first century consumers to wrap our heads around– and yet it is something we long for, on some level, so what are we missing, here? Maybe in our looking for answers we are making it more complicated than it really is.
The very freedom and abundance we prize has saddled us with complexity. If you have found yourself standing in the hair care aisle looking for the right product, you understand the difficulty, here. To most of us freedom means options…and options mean choices…and choices mean time and comparisons and evaluation. Abundance ensures freedom. All of which keeps us focused on what we want and the means to getting what we want, which tends to be a time-consuming business.
But what if we have it all backwards? What if all the judicious comparing of products and value and quality that makes us feel well-informed and in control are actually symptoms of lives thrown wildly off-balance? What if true freedom means ignoring all the distracting options to get to what matters most, so you can make the best choices? What if we are not even meant to be consumers, but beloved children instead? What if we are working hard to make our own lives very complicated and stressful, when all along we were meant to find our purpose in peace and simplicity?
Jesus implied as much when He warned His followers, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24) Trying to hang onto too many different things brings only conflict and turmoil– apparently we only have room for one thing at the center of our hearts. So simplicity is not about how much you have, or how much money you make, or even about how busy you are. It’s about what drives you, what you are focusing on– or to enter into Jesus’ word picture, who we are devoted to. Big-Brother James says clearly that God wants that heart’s focus to be on Himself and Him alone: “God is passionate that the spirit He has placed within us should be faithful to Him.” (James 4:5) Simplicity is trusting in God alone because I have learned that there is no one else like Him, and nothing else that can satisfy. It is total dependence on Him that results in thankfulness for all the ways He provides for me. Lose that focus, and life gets complicated very quickly with all sorts of worries, and fears, and wants, and things we try to hold onto.
Simply put, the more single your focus, the more simple your life is. Repeatedly James urges us to see the benefits: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8) So here we are, back to talking about desiring the Kingdom of God first and more than anything else in life. When your heart has that single purpose, everything else begins to fall into perspective and serve that heart’s desire. Not simple in the sense of easy (these are new spiritual habits we are building, after all) but a simple perspective and uncomplicated results. I have a feeling it is what we have been longing for all along.
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“This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….'” (Isaiah 30:15)
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“Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” (Augustine, Confessions (Book 1)