With so much going on in our lives, I let my emails mount up something ferocious. I kept saying I will deal with this later. Finally, several weeks ago, I sat down to go through them. I had hundreds of emails in my inbox folder, my deleted folder, my spam folder, and my trash folder. Some dated back years. It took me hours to clean up the mess.
I sat down and clicked and clicked and clicked until all things were in order, and I learned a lesson. Since that time, I deal with things as they come. I get rid of things that don’t need to be on my computer, the junk that is taking up space. I spend time keeping the valuable things, the things that are important. I plan for this to be the pattern of my computer life! Now that I am doing it faithfully, I am not overwhelmed.
The thing that seems to plague Christians more than anything else is busyness. “How are you doing?” our friends ask us. “Busy!” we reply, waiting for the gold medal we think we will receive as a result our busyness.
Yes, we are busy with family, busy serving and leading, but the mad-dash schedule of one thing after the next does not leave us with any room to rest or be restored. We find ourselves running on empty and have the frazzled nerves to prove it.
Psalm 39:6 sums up one of my greatest fears for us Christians in our hectic world: “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing” (Psalm 39:6 NLT). Doesn’t that almost give you chills? Merely moving shadows. Busy rushing that ends in nothing.
Too often we are too busy to take time daily to sit with God and get rid of the things that have accumulated, things that do not need to hang around. We are also too busy to take time for the valuable things like sitting in God’s presence, reading scripture, singing songs to Him, and allowing the Holy Spirit to impart strength for the day.
I know this is not a “barnburner” devotion and yet it is one of the most important you can read and heed. If we do not do this, we become overwhelmed with life, and miss the very One who gives life and that more abundantly. Don’t miss the main thing because of busyness.
The Bible teaches us another way to live: to keep our hearts and our minds focused on the things that really matter in our lives. The Psalmist said, “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4).
Busyness by itself is not wrong, but busyness doesn’t satisfy. Pray that God will guard you from the busyness that leaves no time for Him. You can feel so overwhelmed if you look at all you are facing over the next few weeks. Take even a few minutes to pray, ask God’s peace and wisdom, and invite God into each day. It’s time to stop being too busy for what really matters. We experience much greater joy when we realize that busyness is not a spiritual gift.