Disclaimer :This is a blog entry of an anonymous person. I really love his point of view that's why I post it here.
We have this misconception that if we are
not physically doing anything, we are either an idle or a lazy person. Our minds reject the thought that we are
either lazy or idle. So, we tried to
fill our day with activities to make us appear we are busy.
There is nothing wrong about being
busy. Paul, in Ephesians 4:28b,
encourages us to do something with our hands that we may have something to
share to our sisters and brothers in need.
Paul also warned the Thessalonian church about idleness (2 Thessalonians
3:6-13). He said in verse 10 that “If a
man will not work, he shall not eat.”
In this fast-paced life, where everybody’s
running from one direction, to the other, it is not hard to be pushed to be
busy. However, busyness, like other
things, when present in excess is not good.
Excessive busyness results in the following:
·
It robs us of a deep connection with God. How can we be sensitive to God’s voice if we
are always on-the-go? Let’s consider
Martha in Luke 10:38-42 as an example.
When she grumbled to Jesus regarding the “physical idleness” of Mary,
Jesus’ response was:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered,
“you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is
needed. Mary has chosen what is better
and it will not be taken away from her.”
·
It robs us of quality time with family and friends. Moses emphasized in
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 the necessity of family time.
·
It will eventually result in failure. The
Old Testament prophet Haggai explained to the Israelites why all their efforts
fail (Haggai 1:5-9). They fail in their
endeavours because they are so busy running after their personal desires and
have neglected what is more important – God’s temple.
We are totally aware of the repercussions
of our excessive busyness. But somehow,
our flesh gets the better of us. Some
common reasons why people get busy are:
·
The illusion of getting ahead
·
The sense of being important or known as highly productive
·
The feeling of being in control of your future
We know that all of these reasons are lies
planted by the enemy on our heads to cause us to neglect our fellowship with
God, our family and friends. So what
should we do? Outlined are some steps
that we could follow in helping us to strike a balance between busyness and
rest.
1. Know your priorities
Quite a simple step to follow but most
of the time it is difficult to accomplish.
How should we know what to prioritize? Let’s look at the best example of
all – Jesus. WWJD, that is, What Would Jesus Do? I derived the next few
paragraphs from my Prayer Devotional Bible
Mark 1: 21-35 tells of the events in
the ministry of Jesus Christ. In verse
35, Jesus got up very early in the morning, went to a place of solitude and
prayed to His Father. Prior to this
event, Jesus’ day had been full and demanding.
He started off the day teaching in the Capernaum synagogue. He healed a
demon-possessed man who interrupted Him while He was teaching. Then, He went home with Peter and Andrew and
healed Peter’s mother-in-law, who was sick in bed with a fever. People came from miles around to be healed
because they heard of His miraculous power.
Jesus must have been so tired when He finally went to bed that night. But He was up very early the next morning to
pray.
Was Jesus up early to pray in spite of what He had been doing the
day before or because of what He had
been doing? Clearly, Jesus needed to
speak with His Father BECAUSE OF what He had been doing. There was too much at stake for Him to miss
communion with God. For Jesus, to pray
was to be restored and refocused. He had
done His Father’s will the previous day.
In order to face another hectic day, He needed guidance from the Father.
What about us? Do our schedules determine our prayer life,
or do our prayer lives determine our schedule?
Are we too busy to pray or too busy NOT to pray? Who dictates our priorities? Jesus depended solely on the Father for
direction (John 5:19-20, 30).
Matthew 6:33 summarizes the first
step. Seek first God’s kingdom and His
righteousness.
2. Learn to say NO
Most people have a natural desire to be
liked by others. So, we tend to say YES
to other people even to our own detriment.
Saying NO is not plainly saying NO.
It’s about saying YES to our priorities and values and saying NO to
things that are not.
3. Reject the burden of
perfectionism
Perfectionism plays a large part in our
addiction to busyness.
4. Get help when and where
you need it
Pride hinders us from asking help from
other people. At times, our failure to
avail of the help offered to us deprives others of a blessing in the process
(Philippians 4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:4).
Other than pride, shyness and fear of
rejection hinder us from asking help from others. At times, ironically, the person we fear
imposing on is often the more opened to helping us. We can never know unless we ask. And most of the time the results are
wonderfully inspiring.
As summary, in doing anything, remember to
do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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