Are You Too Busy?
Today’s Verse:
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. ~Mark 6:31
Are you too busy? Many of us live very active lives with full schedules. We don’t like to have idle time in our day, so we fill it up with things to do. Resourcefulness and time management cause us to prioritize things that are important to us and schedule these things accordingly. We could be so resourceful that we could fill our calendar with an entire year of activity of things to do, people to see, places to go, and problems to manage. However, we can get to the place where we are on overload and, like the disciples, have "no leisure so much as to eat.”
We see the reason.
We are busy because we try to accomplish a lot of things in a waking day's time. We have commute time, school time, work time, church time, family time, and personal devotion time. We adopt a routine that has us getting up very early and going to bed very late. When we are too busy, we are overcommitted. When we are too busy, we are filling needs and not necessarily accomplishing important priorities. When we are too busy, our schedule is in control of us, not us in control of our schedule. Being too busy is having too many things on our plate and not really thinking through what the priorities are that we must accomplish.
We see the repercussion.
Being too busy means we don’t have enough time. The disciples were so busy that they couldn’t sit down to enjoy a meal. We are like that. We resort to a fast-food lunch or we skip meals. We can be so busy that we don’t have time to nurture relationships. We can be so busy that we don’t have time for God and we neglect our spiritual health. We can be so busy that we don’t have time for ourselves and we neglect our physical health. There is always a give and take when we become too busy, overcommit, and are weighed down with deadlines and completion dates. If we are honest with ourselves, busyness causes our family life, spiritual life, physical health, finances, and mental health to suffer.
We see the retreat.
Jesus saw the disciples being so busy that they had more things to do than they had time for in the day. He called them to come apart into a desert place. He told them that they needed to stop what they were doing and come apart, or they would fall apart. A retreat is time away from your daily grind where you can get away from the busyness to catch your breath. A desert place should be a location that is far enough away that you are not tempted to do a lot of things and solve problems. It is a time to stop messaging, making phone calls, and planning. It is an opportunity to review and replenish every aspect of your life.
We see the rest.
Jesus said, “Rest a while.” First, rest means we must cease and desist. We must learn to let go of being pulled by all of the urgencies of life and rest. Second, we must restore healthy eating and sleeping habits. Third, we must enjoy each day and moment. Breathe the fresh air, smell the flowers, and take in the sun. Fourth, do recreational activities that you enjoy such as walking, hiking, sightseeing, fishing, gardening, or whatever allows you to do something at a pace that is not stressful. Take a nap if needed. Be impromptu each day about what you do. Rest means to refresh, rejuvenate, and renew. Are you too busy? Be careful of being so busy that you have no leisure so much as to eat.
Have a restful God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Corinthians 1-4