Do you struggle to accomplish all that you need to do? Or hoped to do? Or feel God calling you to do? I certainly do at times. I often feel overwhelmed by the length of my to-do list.
Yet, in the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1, Solomon tells us “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” This tells me that there is time to do everything that God has called us to do. God commands us to take care of our families, to do our jobs well for our employers, and to serve Him as He empowers us. He describes this service as both ministering inside the church (1 Corinthians 12:27-31) and outside the church (Matthew 25:31-44).
If your life feels demanding already, it can be daunting when you feel the call to serve your family, your church, or your community in a new way. It is important to pray and examine your heart to ensure that you have heard from God about this new role that you are considering. Once you are certain that this is a role God is calling you to fulfill, you need to prayerfully consider how to “find” the time to fulfill this obligation.
- Start your day with God’s Word. Reading God’s word each morning will get your day off to a great start. It will also help you to focus on God’s voice and be attuned to what He has for you to do today.
- Ask God to help you identify the time-wasters in your life. Are you spending too much time on social media? Playing solitaire or video games? Watching sports? Solving crosswords or sudoku puzzles? None of these activities are wrong or bad for you. But, they have a way of consuming more time than we realize. I love to solve all kinds of puzzles–jigsaw, word puzzles, brain teasers. They are fun and good exercise for the brain. However, I can easily spend one or two hours a day on these activities.
- Ask God to multiply your time. As God multiplied a few loaves and fishes to feed 5,000 people, He can multiple your time so that you accomplish more than you expected. God may answer by of allowing you to complete tasks more quickly than anticipated, having someone volunteer to do some tasks for you, or giving your favor as you drive so that you do not spend a lot of time stuck in traffic or hunting for a parking space.
- Examine the volunteer roles you hold now and pray about whether it is time to let one or more go. Last year, I stepped down from a leadership role I had held for many years. It was hard to step away, but I knew that it was time. God has put another person in that role who is doing exciting new things with that ministry. The ministry is growing, and I am excited to see how God blesses this ministry under her leadership.
- Develop good habits that help you stay focused and on track. These good habits include starting the day in God’s Word and prayer. They might also include (1) checking email only a few times a day at prescribed times, (2) making a list of tasks to be accomplished each day, (3) adding routine tasks to your schedule or work calendar as reminders, and (4) setting a time limit on how much time you spend in activities such as television, social media, and games.
Jesus told his disciples, ““The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Luke 10:2) If you area a child of God, you are a laborer that He is sending out to bring in the harvest. Don’t allow busyness to deter you from answering the Lord’s call.
If you have never considered that God loves you and created you for a purpose, you may not have experienced the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior and having your sins forgiven. Please click on Basics of Salvation in the tool bar above to learn how you can invite Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.
Stewardship that honors God involves managing all of the resources He entrusts to us, including our time and our money. To learn more about stewardship of financial resources, please click the Finances categories tab to find many blogs on money management, budgeting, and stewardship. My book Honoring God with Your Money is a great tool for financial money management.
Susan's Reflections 