A Weird Way of Managing Your Time

I'm reading Craig Groeschel's Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working and usually wait until I've finished the book to write anything about it. But woah, this section on time management slapped me in the face. Craig talks about all the ways Christians are called to be weird and different from everyone else. One section of his book deals exclusively with time management. What an odd thing to talk about, right?

Having Enough

When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.

- A.W. Tozer

We have the bad habit of over scheduling ourselves. We think that we can be everything to everyone. But this over-scheduling takes time away from completing the things hat God has called us. I love Craig's statement that you have enough time to do everything that God wants you to do. In 2 Peter 1:3, Peter tells us that God has given us all things to live a godly life... and that includes time. What God has called you to complete, He has given you enough time to complete it. What an incredible way of looking at it! So take a survey of what is important to God (I would venture to stay that this includes building His Kingdom, building our families, and investing in others) and allocate enough time for it. All the other stuff can get done when it gets done. What's most important is often not what seems most urgent. And don't get me started on how our culture tends to look down on people who don't produce visible results by being busy. We equate busyness with importance and that couldn't be further from the truth. When we follow God, we're about His business and not our busyness.

Being Present

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.
 - Henry David Thoreau

This one hit home for me: being present. How many conversations have you had when your mind was millions of miles away? How many dinners have you eaten with friends and family, trying to carry a conversation while playing on your phone? Multitasking is killing the depth of our life's moments. I am the guiltiest of all on this subject. Always taking my iPhone or iPad with me in case I get bored with the conversation, I can exit the conversation and enter back into my world. I'm still there and that's good enough, right? But when I do this, I don't focus on the people I'm living with. I don't have the courtesy or notion to show (and genuinely have) interest in them. Wherever you are, be all there. Invest more energy into building deeper relationships instead of staying connected with shallow relationships online. And talking of being present in our relationships, ensure that you spend quality time with the Creator of the universe, the author and perfecter of your faith, so that all other things fall into place.

The Balance

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
 - Charles Buxton

The following is an excerpt from the book when Craig goes to see a therapist at the behest of his church's leadership. They were worried about him facing burnout; here is what his therapist said: The biggest reason that people live a "normal", overwhelmed, overly driven, unsustainable pace is because we don't have faith. We don't honestly believe that God is on His throne and that he can, and will, handle the details of our lives, that He wants what is best for us, and that His way of doing life is truly better. We're afraid that if we don't run nonstop and try everything this world has to offer, that we're going to miss out on something. We're afraid that we're going to miss that one thing that turns out to be the elusive piece of our puzzle that fills the void we feel so deeply. But nothing will. That sent chills down my spine -- I am guilty of this too. I'm impatient and have to spend each and every moment doing something to make me feel like I am living my life to the fullest. It's an addiction and I need to rest peacefully in God's grace that He is in control and has given me all the time that I need to do His Will.

Too many of us don't truly rest or enjoy the Sabbath. Knowing when and how to rest is knowing when and how to acknowledge our dependence on God. If I didn't take Sundays to go to church, to spend time with family, to read the Word, to listen to the Holy Spirit teach me as I write this blog, etc., then I would quickly find myself sucked into the black hole of me. Being caught up in what is going on in my world, my schedule, me, me, me. But when I take the Sabbath to enjoy who God is, I find myself focused on Him throughout the week. Just like my body needs sleep to keep moving, my soul needs time with God.

Conclusion

When we run around at a break-neck pace like everyone else, when we are too distracted to build deep relationships with the people we love, when we are too busy to spend time with our God, then something needs to change. We (I, more than anyone) need to realign our priorities so that they line up with God's. We need to say no to the urgent and yes to the important. We need to manage our time better and be present in all situations. This book is a wakeup call for me to live differently and since reading it, I have made more of an effort to build deeper relationships with friends and family, being present and not distracted, resting in God's presence as often as I can, and learning to say no. Doing this, I have begun to find a richer quality of life -- a more God-centric quality of life.

Andrew