People are Priorities

Don't you love it when God is obvious?! I get butterflies when I know He is speaking to me and reveals a piece his plan for my life. I had a moment like earlier last week, and I knew something great was going to come out of it.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am goal-oriented and have a hard time saying no. I don't enjoy being busy and having limited free time, but I feel like I let people down if I don't agree to help them out. Which means I end up committing to 10,000,000 different things and don't have time to sit down between 6 am and 10 pm.

I have 25 minutes on Tuesday between practices? Sure, I'm free! 

15 minutes open on Saturday before I work? No problem!

Overtime, I've learned to perfect and plan my schedule down to the exact minute. I've mastered time management (although I'm still working on arriving places early) and use every second of the day I'm provided with. And when an unwanted or unexpected interruption occurs, it throws me off.

I don't like it at all. And I get annoyed.

Even if it's something good, like a friend asking to meet for coffee or a phone call from my mentor. It wasn't scheduled into my day, it wasn't expected, and now I have to rearrange my plans. Ugh!! God, why me? I'm don't have time for this.

What's wrong with this picture? First of all, there isn't any time set aside in my day to spend with the Lord. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." While this verse doesn't mean we have to stop everything we are doing and pray on our knees for an hour, I find myself thinking I can "be still" while doing three other things at the same time. It's important to set aside distraction-free time to spend with Jesus every single day, no matter how little that time may be.

One of my all time favorite Judah Smith sermons is called "It's Easy to Be Mary When You're Not Martha." Judah talks about how we can't drop everything and sit at the feet of Jesus because, well, life happens. We have floors to clean, bills to pay, homework to do, laundry to fold. It's easy to be calm, relaxed, and spend time with God when we're not the ones with all of the responsibility.

More often than not, I remind myself Martha. I am so caught up and consumed by all of the details that I forget the true purpose behind everything I'm doing and who I'm doing it for. I find my joy in checking off to-do lists and shaving off a minute of my time on the treadmill instead of delighting in the Lord like it says in Psalm 37:4 (Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.)

Secondly, I want become the type of person who would welcome a stranger into their home with a warm smile and a friendly attitude. Hebrews 13:2 reminds us this: "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without even knowing it." In other words, I want to receive these distractions and interruptions in my day with a enthusiastic attitude, thankful that God has given me the opportunity to spend time with that specific person.

The older I get, the more I realize how important people are. How important love is. When you're too busy trying to please others and do all the right things, trying to put on an impression that you're perfect and good at everything, it's exhausting. I know because I've been there, and I'm still there. I have gone so far deep that I've valued getting a perfect score on a math test and volunteering at five different church events in one month over spending time with my friends and family. I've poured myself into so many different things - all good things - but I'm empty. I'm realizing I can't do it all and I'm going to have to make decisions on how I will spend my time in this life.

Coming back from winter break, I was relaxed, spending more time reading my Bible, and ready to take on a new year. Once school rolled around though, I was focused and back in high-stress mode. I knew I wasn't going to spend the last year and a half I had left at home busy, tired, and alone. I was ready for my cup to overflow again. So little by little, I've been cutting back on the things I'm involved in and spending more and more time investing in people.

As the Message Translation puts 1 Corinthians 13:7, we are bankrupt without love. God is love and shows his love to us through having relationships with others. I don't want to look back on my life and only have a list of mediocre achievements to take pride in. I want to reflect on the times I spent laughing with my family, doing outrageous things with my friends, the deep talks I had with the people who mean the most to me, and the special, intimate moments I had talking to Jesus.

Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I believe it's important to volunteer in your church, and I also believe setting goals are crucial if you want to be successful in life! A focused mindset comes in handy when I'm studying for tests and choreographing cheer routines. But when we place too much of our value and worth in anything other than Christ, we are going to run ourselves crazy and end up broken back at the feet of Jesus - right where he wants us to be.

So if you're tired of being busy and not having time to spend with those who really matter to you, take the first step and give something up. Your gain will be far greater than your loss.

His Biblical Beauty,
Paige