Everyone is busy. That’s the excuse that we as a society use, when we don’t want to make time for someone that we really don’t want to be around at that point in time, we say ‘We’re busy’. A polite way of being a brat sometimes, I sometimes wonder that if that phrase ‘I’m busy’ is just an excuse like we always want it to be, or have our lives become in fact that; busy. I step back; and think. Going from soccer games to board meetings, parent teacher nights, family nights, important decisions of which university or college to send your children to, improving relationships with your neighbours down the street, making sure your contribution to your local church goes noticed by the pastor so that your relationship can get back on track.
Busyness is a part of life. But busyness cannot be the excuse that we use anymore, in any situation. We are all busy, and we all need to prioritise our time so that the important things that should matter to us are accomplished. We all have the same about of time, the same amount of hours in the day. It is how we fill it that should matter, to us and also to God. He knows our heart, our intentions. So it’s ok if we are busy, we just need to make the effort to prioritise the things in our lives that we believe are important to us, even if it means sacrificing and saying ‘no’ so that you can say ‘yes’. God uses signs for us to acknowledge what He is trying to speak to us about. It may not be literal ones that we’re all hoping for, but nevertheless, God has given us signs all around us to show us of his matchless beauty, wonder, splendour and glory.
Finding out where you’re meant to be; or much broader, finding out where, and who and what you’re meant to be, are at the core of what the human race is longing for, and busyness can place a dent in that process. So who do you think you are? More often than not, the Lord is speaking to us, but we may or may not listen, and our excuse: busyness. And when we fall into a heap, when we struggle to juggle the 5 or 6 things that we are doing simultaneously, we may proclaim that we ‘have never felt like this before’, and we start to point the finger, blaming anyone and everyone they know. Firstly, we may blame God. ‘If you knew that I was going to get burnt out, then why didn’t you stop me? Then I’d be able to live life with the knowledge that my life would not get out of whack.’ But then God will probably answer, ‘My child, I did speak to you, I did show you signs. You shouldn’t have said ‘yes’ to everything, but rather say ‘no’ to things too!”
That is our crime as a human race. Because we see superhero shows like Batman, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men or Iron Man on TV, we believe we can emulate them in every aspect of our lives. But what we fail to realise is that we were not made to do everything. Because if you end up doing everything that you’d like, you won’t do anything well because you’re spreading yourself too thin. What songwriter Michael W. Smith explains in his book, Signs, reveals a lot to the reader:
One of the biggest problems we all face in America today is that we’re surrounded by distractions, and we live way too fast. We find ourselves running from school to work to activities that range from baseball practice to hitting the mall to play rehearsals. Calling it ‘multi-tasking’ may make it sound like we have it under control, but it doesn’t change the fact that many of us are so caught up in our everyday lives that we’re just too busy to see what’s right in front of us. And that’s when we miss the signs. If I had my way, I’d install one of those big, yellow SLOW signs on ever corner. Okay, that might seem extreme, but I really believe that God is telling us to ‘slow down’. Not that I always listen. I’m the first to admit, there have been periods when I’ve become completely caught up in being busy. Great opportunities came my way, and there were times I probably said yes when I should have said no. Sound familiar? It’s a tempting trap to fall into, but in the end, it can leave little time for God and the business He really wants us to be about.
In my life, in your life, we should intentionally ‘slow down’. Because if we don’t, we can’t hear God’s voice throughout the busyness, with everyone going from one task to the next, running around and trying to fit more into their 24 hour day, even if it means reducing sleep hours. I know it can seem difficult these days, with the average Australian only getting around 7 hours of sleep per night, meaning that we all have around a 17 hour day that we can fit a certain amount of activities within; but we should try to slow down. There may be health implications for slowing down our lives, such as reducing heart problems, reducing stress and anxiety, not to mention decreasing the number of back or shoulder problems that people pick up when they are uptight; but rather when we do intentionally slow down; we just might be able to hear the Lord’s voice that has been speaking to us all along. He will show us the things that He has in store for us. We may be looking at the rights things, or not; but nevertheless, when we slow down, will be gain perspective, on us, the world around us, and where the Lord is leading us into the future.
There is a lyric in a song, “Come Rest” (by singer songwriter Lindsay McCaul), that has spoken to me and I’m sure it’ll speak to you just the same: When You say come, rest -should I be working so hard? When You say love, rest -did You want hands or my heart? 'Cause I have done my best and still I miss the mark; but I remember You said its done so I come. We need rest, from the busyness that we are all trapped in. We need to remember that everyone is busy, but just take time out for a while. Take your wife or husband on a date out. Take your children to their favourite diner, or hang out with your mates. Busyness will always be there. But it is our choice to allocate the time for the people that are the most important to us. And most important, the Lord wants to speak to you. So, like the lyric says, just come, and we should amazed by what God can do.
Until next time,
Jon.
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