Does the title of this blog triggers something in you? A sense of urgency? A sense of helplessness, or even fear?
If you would ask anyone around you what they would consider as their ideal day? I am willing to bet that many will reply with a need for more time. People need time for a million different reasons, of course, but to have more time feels like gold in your pocket these days.
For those diligent and determined ones there is also unlimited sources of time management courses and tips. In spite of these courses, if you look around, you will not easily find an entirely, rested, excited person who will respond to the: “How are you?” question with :”So well, I have so much time and am planning what to do with it…” Nope the answer is most probably” “I’m doing well, just busy…” We seem so busy, so unrested, and often so despondent about what we need to do in a day.
The time we have does not seem sufficient …
The wise Solomon does not agree when he writes in Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
The difference between him and us is: When he lived, they were still physically bound to seasons for the life sustenance, and therefore seasons made sense to them. The necessities in life such as food, clothes and houses worked together with patience. Waiting for seasons to change.
We, on the other hand, WANT and in many circumstances CAN HAVE everything NOW. Very few types of food can’t be supplied in any season. If it’s not naturally available in our country we import or culture it. If we need cash, we get is from an ATM quickly. If we want to speak to someone, we immediately phone and they immediately answer (in most cases) or they phone back quickly. If we have a request we immediately WhatsApp and they immediately answer. If we are hungry we take-away, microwave or cook fast. If we want information, we type in two words on a search engine and “bam” we have answers. If we want to buy a house there is so many options to choose from you have to get training just to understand all your options.
The result is that we have everything we want all the time, except the important golden string that holds our lives together. The string called Time in which God created us in the beginning, and after the fall, which He altered to have an end. We always have too little time because we do everything at once. Can patience be the answer to our great need?
Time was meant to be a gift, a precious gift together with the gift of free will in order for us to choose how to spend it. Do not be fooled with the lie that you have no choices, we always have choices it is part of our make-up.
Anyone who has tried to organize their lives, who is constantly trying to find time, or use it wisely knows that prioritizing plays an integral part of this mission. At work, at home, in relationships. We need to prioritize. When we do that, we map out our beginnings and endings. The beginning of our day, the end of a project. The beginning of a year the end of a career. The beginning of a new life in a new country, the end of another season before the move.
Jesus gave tips on prioritizing and he coupled it with stress. He knew that the people then, like us now, would worry. He knew surviving, just living or over doing it would overwhelm us, steal our focus and our peace. He gives good advice, sensible and solid.
In Matt 6:25-34 He speaks straight into the matter. He says that He will supply. If you need proof, look at nature. The animals, He keeps them together. He looks after them.
What must we do with our time, while surviving? PRIORITIZE!
v33: Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Please note: We are not to conquer, have all the answers, and be perfect in this case of prioritizing. No…just to seek His kingdom, to knock, to draw near. The action is not to become holy instantaneously, but to reach out your hand towards God first, before choosing anxious living and to desperately please people instead of surrendering to God.
What would prioritizing God mean for you? Is it to get down on your knees for five minutes before storming towards the day? Would it be to pen Him in properly in that busy calendar of yours? Or, just honestly talking, praying, crying before Him in your car all the way to work?
I think our time is gone because the core of our time management – Prioritizing- got lost in the mix. The less time we have, the more tired and overwhelmed we get, and the further and further away the thought of prioritizing move from us.
Can you trust Him for …”all these things” that you need? Did you know that without all the worry there is Peace? True Peace.
In many ways, the Word is much more practical than we think.
Another banner towards prioritizing is of course the only rules Jesus gave us before He left this earth:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the FIRST and greatest commandment. And the SECOND is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 22: 37-39)
Love and relationship develops over TIME, spend time with your first love,
And See How Your Life Transforms.
Written by Johanni Meiring
Johanni Meiring 