The enticing sweetness of a ‘bare minimum’ lifestyle

I will start off with a confession:

I’m a bare minimum kinda girl. I often go out of my way to find the shortest and least intrusive way of getting things done. I have done this consistently in different areas of my life – school, work, relationships and even domestic chores.

I do just enough so I am not labeled lazy, unserious or incompetent and that’s about it.

For something I had cultivated and encouraged, it was no surprise to see it trickle into my relationship with God. I would keep the phone lines on — our lines of communication — but barely saying anything to him. I will sing a few songs of praise but quickly move on to the next thing, believing I had done enough to keep our relationship going.

Deep down, I knew I wasn’t really invested in anything – not the work I was doing, nor the people around me.

And so, I trudged one in life, the queen of bare minimums.

Perhaps, you can relate to my story. You have been in this zone of minimal commitment. Never finding anything you can pour yourself completely to.

You may have also known, deep down, that this was not the way to live though you were reluctant to do it another way.

Because it’s ‘safe’.

It is often convenient and comfortable. It allows us hide and shield ourselves especially, where an increased level of commitment and sacrifice will only bring us pain and sorrow.

And that’s true.

A higher level of trust and commitment will take something from us. There is a cost attached but then, there is also a reward. For us to give wholly to something means we can let go of ourselves – our fears, our regrets and guilt and know that we held nothing back.

But this is only one level of it!

While struggling through the enticing comfort of my ‘bare minimum’ lifestyle, I came across several scriptures that showed that God wanted more for me. Not because he is a task master but because of his love.

God wants a no-holds barred relationship with us. A love relationship where we delight in spending time (quality time) with him. Where it’s not about going through the motions but about meaning every word we say to him and opening our lives and hearts to him.

“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

He had deposited so much in each of us.

Things he knows we can do if only we will let go and trust him. Ah!! Scary, right? It certainly is.

God’s love means that he doesn’t leave us in our mess, in our issues and sin but helps us overcome. He helps us renew our minds so we can better understand his good and perfect will.

He doesn’t force us but gives us the power to choose. To choose him, to choose to trust him completely, to move from minimal commitment to utmost commitment.

Do you know the best part — we get to read the fine lines before we sign on.

In Luke 14:28, Jesus tells the people that they must count the cost before they can follow him. They had to understand what was at stake to make an informed and wise decision:

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it —”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The amazing thing about this scripture is that we get to count the cost of staying the way we are, as compared with doing things God’s way.

A balanced perspective you may say.

And looking at everything in my life, I choose to follow God, completely. What about you?

Jesus says:

“…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I choose to pay the price for total commitment — death. Dying to my wants, to my desires, my flesh and subjecting all that I am and all that I will ever be to his will.

I will also be the first to tell you that I am still a work in progress — a construction site — as I often fall. I often forget this new path and fall back to the deceptive comfort of bare minimums. But thankfully, his grace is sufficient and he keeps reminding me that I can’t change in my own strength but only through him, for he is my strength and my anchor.

The bare minimum life may seem safe, maybe it has worked for you all these years but it leaves no room for growth, for real and deep roots. It only promotes a shallow existence where life is lived without meaning and intention.

I’m not here to convince you but I hope our lord’s words in Luke 14:28 will convict you and remind you to revisit your life and make room for any necessary changes.

Remember, you cannot do any of these in your own strength. But God can.

He has incredible plans for our lives, plans he set in place before we were born and only he can actualise it.

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭TPT‬‬