Ever notice what a bad rap the number three gets? Three strikes and you are out; A three-ring circus; Three sheets to the wind; Three alarm fire, 3rd Wheel. Sadly, deaths seem to come in threes. One famous person dies, followed quickly by two others. Then there is our title, “Three’s A Crowd” Or is it?
Recently the word “discipline” popped up in my life three times. Not the kind of discipline where you get spanked with a wooden spoon. To this day, I run if someone gets one out to cook! No, the kind of discipline that kept coming to me meant “Focused.” There’s no discipline when we run around like chickens with their heads cut off. More than likely, we are doing the urgent over the important and succeeding at nothing.
I wore many hats when I worked as a television series and documentary producer. The more I did, the more valuable I thought I was. My evaluation came up, and I was confident it would be excellent. My boss looked at me and said, “Sandy, you are doing a lot of things. But you are not doing anything well.” Ouch, Not the evaluation I thought I would get! To this day, his voice resounds in my head when I run around like those chickens. I need discipline and focus. Discipline requires prioritization. Putting first things first, and let everything else follow.
The most life-changing reference to discipline popped up at our recent Family Life Weekend To Remember Marriage Retreat. Apparently, it takes discipline to have a good marriage. And it takes three. In marriage, three is not a crowd. You cannot be a good spouse without divine intervention. Left to my own devices, I will always want my way, and my husband will want his. Add God to the relationship. Seek God’s way. He will draw us together.
The Bible has this to say about God and marriage:
“It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.” (Ecclesiastes 4:19-12 MSG)
The third rope is GOD! He makes the relationship stronger.
Ironically discipline came up with a study my group is doing on REST. Really. How much discipline does it take to rest? Seems counterintuitive. Look in the mirror, and look at the world around you. Work, cell phones, computers, and television keep your mind spinning, preventing you from resting. There is so much noise and distraction running us all over the place.
“A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.” (1 Kings 19:11) God is in the still, small whisper drowned out by the disasters and the busyness of our lives. We need to be disciplined in Rest to hear it.
At church, discipline came up yet again. REST- beginning to sense a pattern. The pastor pointed out that we are running from something God intended for our good, for us to receive. He said that Rest is entering into a relationship with God, and that He is in the Rest, not the craziness of life. I mentioned it in a previous Blog, God rested. Jesus went away from the crowds to rest. He explained why, “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.”(John 14:27 MSG)
So there it is. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit–our faith exists on the foundation of three-the Trinity, Apart from them, there is no rest or peace. Three is not a crowd. Three makes us complete. The number three appears over a hundred times in the Bible. Three Wisemen honored the Lord, Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish, the man robbed on the road to Jericho encountered three men, only one helped, and most importantly, Jesus rose from the dead after three days. There is power in three.
One scholar puts it this way, “The number 3 biblically represents divine wholeness, completeness, and perfection. If there ever was a desire to highlight an idea, thought, event, or noteworthy figure in the Bible for their prominence, the number 3 was used to put a divine stamp of completion or fulfillment on the subject.”
It takes discipline to stop, rest and hear the still, small voice. We must stop doing so much that we are not doing anything well. We need to invite the Lord into every area of our lives. God did not need to rest on the seventh day; He’s GOD. He always leads by example, showing us the importance of this discipline to give us peace and hope.
“You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)
Put God’s way ahead of your own, learn the discipline of rest and find peace in your soul.
IT'S A HARnDen LIFE... 