What do you do when there are too many activities competing for one little slice of your time? How do you choose which gets priority and which get eliminated? What if they are all important? This busy season, I must count it all JOY.
I experienced a moment of panic this morning as I was contemplating my calendar. I keep saying I've got two weeks to get my study finished, but this morning as I looked at the calendar, I realized I've only got two available days this week and three possible days next week to work on it. Five days, not two weeks! It's important. It's. going to minister to people. And now something urgent has come up that I have to find time for. I have a good friend who is being swallowed up in depression. She's been withdrawing, and yesterday responded to my email by saying she feels invisible. She needs to know she's loved and valuable and seen, and words alone are not going to do the trick. I need to spend some time with her. Help, Lord! What do I do?
Count it all Joy, He responds. I know what He's referring to - the acronym I've used to prioritize my life in times past - Jesus Others You. When I start to feel overwhelmed and there are not enough spaces on the calendar for the activities to fill them, I have to filter them with JOY. I have to put my Lord first - after all, He is the reason for the season. I have to put others needs second and mine come last. His word promises that if I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that all the other things will be added unto me.
I have a lot to do to get my study completed by its deadline, but I know that my calendar is only full until about 9 or 10pm each night. If I didn't have whole days to work on it, I could give up a couple hours sleep and work on it every night before going to bed. I could still get it done. So I'm going to try to get a hold of my friend today and really work at convincing her to go out with me. My boss' wife gave me a gift card to the Roadhouse theater at our company party. It's a movie theatre with leather seats that fully recline and waiters that come serve you. I can't think of a better way to show my friend how special she is than to pamper her a little. I feel an urgency that if I don't reach out to her, she will become lost in this holiday madness. She's too precious to let that happen to.
JOY to the world, the Lord is come! Not just during Christmas, but every time I start to feel overwhelmed or need to make decisions in my life, I will follow my Lord's counsel. I will count it all JOY.
I experienced a moment of panic this morning as I was contemplating my calendar. I keep saying I've got two weeks to get my study finished, but this morning as I looked at the calendar, I realized I've only got two available days this week and three possible days next week to work on it. Five days, not two weeks! It's important. It's. going to minister to people. And now something urgent has come up that I have to find time for. I have a good friend who is being swallowed up in depression. She's been withdrawing, and yesterday responded to my email by saying she feels invisible. She needs to know she's loved and valuable and seen, and words alone are not going to do the trick. I need to spend some time with her. Help, Lord! What do I do?
Count it all Joy, He responds. I know what He's referring to - the acronym I've used to prioritize my life in times past - Jesus Others You. When I start to feel overwhelmed and there are not enough spaces on the calendar for the activities to fill them, I have to filter them with JOY. I have to put my Lord first - after all, He is the reason for the season. I have to put others needs second and mine come last. His word promises that if I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that all the other things will be added unto me.
I have a lot to do to get my study completed by its deadline, but I know that my calendar is only full until about 9 or 10pm each night. If I didn't have whole days to work on it, I could give up a couple hours sleep and work on it every night before going to bed. I could still get it done. So I'm going to try to get a hold of my friend today and really work at convincing her to go out with me. My boss' wife gave me a gift card to the Roadhouse theater at our company party. It's a movie theatre with leather seats that fully recline and waiters that come serve you. I can't think of a better way to show my friend how special she is than to pamper her a little. I feel an urgency that if I don't reach out to her, she will become lost in this holiday madness. She's too precious to let that happen to.
JOY to the world, the Lord is come! Not just during Christmas, but every time I start to feel overwhelmed or need to make decisions in my life, I will follow my Lord's counsel. I will count it all JOY.
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