You return home from a great Sunday service challenged by the message which showed you your need for time reading God’s word or praying. Over the past several weeks, you were also challenged to give your time and talents to your local community through volunteering.
Through some reading, you saw your need to invest in your marriage and family. You are challenged and inspired.
You schedule time for daily devotions, you volunteer at the food pantry and plan a weekly date night with your spouse. You are pumped, excited, and ready to get moving on these new activities.
Most of you know how this scenario plays out. There is not enough time in the day to do everything.
Stress goes up. The date night turns into an argument night, you sleep through your daily devotions more times than you complete them, and while you have made each volunteer shift at the food pantry, you resent the time you spend there, and then you feel guilty about resenting the time you volunteer.
The intentions which developed into actions only last for a couple of weeks. Every activity which you started is essential, but how do you squeeze them into your already full days?
What are you to do when there is not enough time? Recently, I was reading one of the Habitudes books by Tim Elmore. In a chapter titled “Trade-Offs,” Elmore related the following story.
“My friend Dick Wynn told me about a leadership summit he attended with the famous Peter Drucker. During his career, Mr. Drucker was considered the top management guru in America.
“Dick told me that day was unforgettable. After a full day of providing leadership insights, Peter told the attendees to put their pens down. He reminded them that they had about 10 more minutes together before the day would be over.
“Then, he asked them to take out a fresh piece of paper and begin writing down all the ideas they planned to implement as a result of their time together. At that point, he set them in motion. Dick told me everyone began making a list of all the things they planned to apply from their wonderful training time.
“With five minutes to spare, however, Peter Drucker told everyone to stop. Then he shocked them.
“He instructed the attendees to turn the paper over and begin making a list of all the items they would stop doing to make room for the new ideas they were going to start doing. Oops. Ouch. Dick told me he looked around and no one was writing anything down at first.
“Why? We just don’t do this in today’s world. We never stop doing things — we just keep adding to our ‘to do’ list. And our lives become crazier and crazier.”
That is what happens to us as believers. We return home from Sunday service or small group with a conviction to improve our spiritual lives or our family lives or our marriages. We set out to incorporate these convictions, but how often do we consider what we must stop doing to begin to do the things which we now desire to incorporate into our lives?
God never designed us to live the way most of us do, and it is tearing us down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Our lives are too busy because we try to do it all.
As Elmore went on to explain in this chapter, “Every decision is a trade-off. Doing one thing means you can’t do another.”
You can’t do everything. Neither can I.
Choices must be made. Prioritize wisely. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, the same 168 hours in a week. The wise have time for all that is important, but they made trade-offs. In one season of their life, they can do something. In another season, they cannot.
An acquaintance of mine made a difficult choice when his children were young. He loved golf, and he was a good golfer. He owned a lot of equipment and had a membership at a club. Now he had children, and family obligations were growing.
He continued to play golf, but with everything going on, stress was rising. Then one day after playing a round of golf, he made a decision. He made a trade-off.
He chose family and church over golf. He hung up the golf bag and sold the golf cart. He missed golf. He admitted that.
But for this season of his life, he would trade golf for his family and his faith. It is a decision he never regretted making. He realized he couldn’t do it all, so he chose to do what mattered.
My challenge to you today: What do you need to stop or limit doing so you have time to do what is most important?
Rick Glowacki is lead pastor of Columbus First Assembly. He can be reached at [email protected].
