Every Wednesday during the month of October I’ll be touching on this subject, setting specific goals for myself, and encouraging you to join in with me! Of course, I picked the month with 5 Wednesdays...convenient, aren’t I? :)
Consider this quote*:
Time management sometimes seems like a far off dream, an aura of perfectness that I can’t ever achieve. It is easy to look at others who seem to do so much, and think, If I could only learn to fit that much into my schedule, then I will have achieved the coveted award of time management.
It doesn’t really work that way. If I did achieve that much, there would always be someone doing more...and I still would not feel like I accomplished anything. As the above quote points out, it is not just being able to fit more things into a day, but doing the things that God intends for me to do in a day.
Jeremiah 10:23 says,
If it is not man’s responsibility to direct his steps, then whose is it? God’s, of course! He wants to direct our steps, and He will if we allow it!
This doesn’t mean we can’t plan, prepare and set goals. We were not placed here on earth to flounder and guess our way through life. No, God intends for us to go through this life with purpose, understanding that ultimately it is His purpose and plan that we are following.
After reading Jeremiah 10:23, I took a step back and looked at the things that make up my days right now. Am I accomplishing God’s purpose in these activities? Or am I pushing my own agenda? How am I to know?
By asking.
I made a list of the things that, to me, are an important part of my days right now. I wrote down Jeremiah 10:23 along with this list, and stuck it on my daily prayer list. Now every day I pray that the Lord will direct my steps in each of these specific areas.
The things on my list are so simple that I’m almost hesitant to share them with you. It is not big stuff. I’m not contemplating some major life decision. It is just every day things that I was taking for granted was my calling at this moment. I’m not even looking to change any of these things, but I do want God’s best purpose to be worked through them and me!
My list includes blogging. I love blogging. But am I letting the Lord direct my steps in this area? I travel on Sundays to play the piano for a small church 45 minutes away. I absolutely love it...but I realize it can’t last forever that way. Eventually something will change. Am I allowing the Lord to direct those changes when the time comes? Right now I teach my siblings piano (and need all the prayers I can get! :) but I can’t teach publicly in Canada yet. Am I allowing the Lord to work out those details, and help me be faithful over the few I am teaching right now?
I believe very firmly that this is the first step to time management...allowing the Lord to show us what things we are to be filling our time with! I pray that you will take time this week to establish this principle in your own life.
I'd love for you to leave a comment with your thoughts on this matter! Do you struggle with Time Management? What areas would you like to see covered in this series?
*Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager, pg. 179
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