“Actions
that lead to overwork, exhaustion, and burnout can’t praise and glory God. What
God calls us to do we can do and do well.”
— HENRI NOUWEN
(1932–1996)
WELL MAY we say, we do not
have enough time – and I frequently think it. But the truth of the matter is we
have ample time – to do all we need to do.
We always find time to do
the things that are important to us, but we need to ensure that there aren’t
that many things that are important to us that we will feel overwhelmed in the
process of simply living. Sure, some people are called to lives of burden, as
most of us have seasons of burden where we are tested regarding the limits
placed on our time.
But we need to remember,
especially in this age of busyness, God has ordained enough moments, enough
minutes, and enough milieus to make a full life – not full of burden, but full
of purpose, hope, and sufficiency through grace to achieve his will.
God gifts us with such
things as these, when we use our time wisely:
“God’s gift is enjoyment in your life, fulfillment in
your work, contentment in your heart.”
— CHUCK SWINDOLL
When we determine that
enjoyment in life, fulfilment in our work, and contentment in our hearts is
possible then we are able to connect with it the fact that we have enough time.
Reconfiguring Our Perspective To
Truth
When we consider the
possibilities – that we do have enough time to do the things we need to – and
that there is the potential for enjoyment, fulfilment, and contentment – we
soon learn that seeing truthfully is about maintaining healthy perspective.
An unhealthy perspective
with regard to time and satisfaction in life makes life a misery – so we might
ask, why go there?
There is no gain to us or
to anyone else in an unhealthy perspective, but there is plenty of gain for us
and everyone we care about when we acknowledge, within healthy limitations, we
have enough time and opportunity to do everything that God asks us to do.
Having ventured forth in
life long enough to have experienced some of the blessings of God because we
have accepted these realities, we have enough knowledge to continue stepping
forth on the road of faith – a road that never ultimately disappoints.
Add to ‘Truth-of-Time’,
Diligence
Diligence is a masterstroke
of wisdom that we add to the concept that is the truth-of-time. The
truth-of-time-and-diligence combo works – by our processes of faith – for the
simple reason that we whinge and complain no more about those burdens bearing
down on us. We simply, by diligence, put our head down and apply our minds to
the work ahead of us. All our hearts go into the work, and God, by his Spirit,
anoints us by his Presence, as we enjoy his blessing: the matters of plain and
unquestioned achievement.
***
Time might appear the
conqueror, but, when we accept we have enough time to do God’s will, we are the
conquerors. All we need is to invest in diligence and God converts that type of
obedience into eventual blessing.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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