This chapter is about giving your best instead of half-hearted leftovers. Wow!?! I'm super guilty when it comes to half-hearted leftovers. What about you? Its about the part of changing "the playing field of this resolution: Getting clarity on your primary roles." (page 93) I loved this part: "If you do your best, for example, but you expend much of it on the wrong things, you've not only wasted a lot of your energy and resources; you've also lost time and opportunities you may never recover." (page 94)
It uses the example in the latter part of the Old Testament after many Hebrews "had returned to their native homeland from exile." (age 94) The Lord spoke to the people through Haggai to question the priorities of the Hebrews as they were rebuilding their nation and lives. The people were spending a considerable amount of time on their own lavish dwellings rather than rebuilding the house of the LORD.
Priorities. Out of order. Exactly what Preacher Devin taught Sunday School on this week! Hello, Godstop!
God knew that the people needed to rebuild their homes. This was an honorable request. God wasn't upset by what they were doing as much as He was troubled by when. Obviously, rebuilding the temple which was destroyed ("thereby restoring the worship of God to a place of prominence in their lives" (page 95) was of greater priority to the LORD at that particular moment.
Ask a wise, honest friend who know you well how she thinks you're managing your current priorities:
Friend 1:
"Actually, not being with you all the time, I will base my opinion on what I do know about you. You ALWAYS prioritized and managed everything, including relationships, to the best of your ability. You always took time to think it through and I always wished I could be half as good as you at managing all you do!!!
I love you lots and hope this answer is exactly what you needed. Of course, there is always room for improvement but we all know those are the areas we would rather people not know about so if you have those then you might want to list them."
Friend 2:
"Well I can honestly say that you manage your priorities really well, and I admire you more and more everyday for doing everything that you do and everything that you have already accomplished. You have always been someone that I looked up to and you are my encouraging "best" friend that I need in my life each and everyday to remind me that I can do it too! Just by watching you, I've learned a lot with each passing year! Love you and I hope this answer is what you were looking for!"
And just because I am gluten for punishment (HA!), I also asked my husband:
But he hasn't really given me a strait answer. All he will say is that oftentimes HE tends to put the kids before me. So I'm not really sure if that was a thought I needed to read between the lines of or not. Regardless, I'm guilty of this too.
As you think about those things you want to do but can never seem to make time for, remember the biblical appeal that says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV). How could this deliberate act of trust and perspective free you to invest yourself more joyfully in today?
Actually it makes me feel a little less overwhelmed. I don't think I've ever really looked at "stuff" that way. It seems that no matter what I do, there is still stuff to be completed. I have unfinished scrap books of both boys; I've purchased about 10 books for my Kindle that I "eventually" plan to read; I need to do so many things...yet, there are so many things that can wait. Instead of stressing over having a spot-less home, our home is lived in. I've learned to push laundry to the side and instead play with my boys. I'm watching less TV...My to-do lists are sitting on the counter for each Wednesday that I'm off work. I have been more joyful...I guess you can say, I've been trusting God that there will be a "later" to do all of the stuff I can't fit in my schedule right now. Hallelujah!
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