MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS: MY CASE FOR FINDING TIME TO MEDITATE

By Andrea Capuyan

September 14, 2023

As a steward, my choice to pause and meditate allows me to continually calibrate my heart and mind to the Master’s voice. The spiritual practices of prayer, contemplation, and reflection strengthen the bond of trust between me and God, my owner. Because when I pause and meditate on His desires and will, I can appropriately act on His behalf in His Kingdom.

Knowing God frees me to act under the appointment of His authority humbly. Otherwise, I can get caught up in my goals and agenda and fight to build a “personal empire.” An empire that might appear to be good but is unsustainable, for it is made by selfish ambition. And an empire that competes with God’s Kingdom, and therefore, is fundamentally an enemy of God.

An intentional practice of meditation and contemplation creates a pathway for me to abide with God and release my agenda to Him continually. It’s where God tunes my heart and mind again to Him. It’s become a personal time for me to reflect on my life as God’s steward and consider how God asks me to grow and change.

Key Concepts

These are the steward concepts that resonate with me:

Generous stewards reflect the abundant generosity of God across all generations – in all places and at all times.
God entrusts us to be stewards of justice and mercy for human flourishing in His Kingdom.
God’s stewards are wise in managing all the resources He gives us, but we are also mindful of how we attain those resources at our disposal.

Simple statements invite me to pause and meditate on how God might wish to shift my thinking, unmask selfish motives, or uncover unhealthy beliefs. And like many ‘mountain top’ experiences, far too often, the temptation exists to jump back into the daily grind and trust that something good stuck. Perhaps you, like me, experience a season of learning yet find that your calendar affords you little time to digest.

I am using the three concepts above as an invitation to a season of meditation, contemplation, and reflection. Through writing in my journal and talking to God, I am thinking about these concepts and what God might be up to.

The Right Questions

I ask these questions of confession and gratitude:

What about myself am I most attached to? Am I willing to have less so others might have more?
What is prohibiting me from giving and receiving justice and mercy from God? And with others?
When have my actions robbed others of their humanity? Where is my desire for security and wealth causing the suffering of others?
Is there a financial debt God might be asking me to forgive?
God, where am I demanding my way?
What does God’s abundant generosity look like in my life?
What does it mean to me that God is a good Master?

An Invitation

I invite you to join me and meditate on these concepts and questions for a season – perhaps a day, a week, or a month.

Our Master desires to change the heart and mind of a steward as much as He wishes to impact the world through His stewards. May His Kingdom first have dominion and fruitfulness in us.

Meditate on These Things was reposted with permission from Christian Leadership Alliance.

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Andrea Leigh Capuyan serves on the Center for Steward Leader Studies board and is executive director for the LPC – a local ministry helping individuals impacted by unintended pregnancy, reproductive loss, and post-abortion recovery. Andrea also provides coaching and consultation, assisting others in experiencing abundance as a leader. She is a Credentialed Christian Nonprofit Leader (CCNL) with Christian Leadership Alliance. She holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from York University.