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PROGRAM D-8106
I want to share some thoughts on a topic that all of us—both men and women—are very familiar with: Busyness! We are all busy, aren’t we? When was the last time someone told you they didn’t have enough to do? No, we connect significance with busyness, and most of us either boast or complain about how busy we are. But what does God think about our busyness?
I want to address five questions about our busy schedules to help us determine how God thinks about our busyness. Our first question is this:
Am I busy for the right reasons?
We need to look at what we’re doing and make sure we are doing what God wants us to do. For sure, doing what God has put us here to do will keep us busy. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We are here, as God’s people, to do the good works he has planned for us to do. We are to be busy doing those good works. God doesn’t honor laziness or wasting time, but one of the traps we can easily fall into is staying very busy for the wrong reasons.
I can tell you, as a staff member in my church, that getting volunteers to fill all the needs of a local church is a constant challenge. So often, when we ask someone to take on a job at church, we hear the list of excuses why they can’t do it. Admittedly, some are legitimate; I don’t believe we have to say yes to every request that comes our way. But far too often, the reason people aren’t available to do some ministry is because their lives are filled up with things that have no eternal value.
For myself, I love being busy; I get bored easily if my plate is not full. But I also know that I can easily fall into the trap of trying to do too much and not being busy for the right reasons.
Are you willing to honestly ask yourself this question: Am I busy for the right reasons? Make it a matter of prayer. Write all your commitments and responsibilities on paper, and then, one by one, ask God, “Is this one of the good works you put me here to do?” That is how we get serious about doing God’s will and ridding our schedules of the things that God never intended for us to do.