Hello my dear sisters!! Yes, it has been awhile. ~Smile~ But sometimes you have to pull away from all the clatter and noise that surrounds us in order to really hear what God is saying to you. I would have to say the past several months have been just that for me.
Back in July I had an emergency arise (because of poor communication on my part) where I needed a ride to pickup the two French exchange students we were hosting for 3 weeks. It was a one hour round trip, and on a Saturday evening too boot!! I made 8 phones calls 2 days before the pickup and no one was available to help. Now, this was not the first time I've encountered something like this and I don't give up easily (well, most times) and especially since I knew the Lord would have a ram in the bush. But I did have a much clearer picture of how our busyness can be a real hindrance to God's work. Please, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we shouldn't make plans...no, no, that is not what I mean at all. What I'm trying to say, "Is that we often fill our plates so full, there isn’t room for anything else."
The truth is that most people are not going to call 8 people for anything. And what happens, people walk away feeling nobody cares. As an inner city missionary I hear this a lot from women and it prompted a conversation with the Lord about what impact does this have on His earthly kingdom? You know what girls? We are missing many opportunities to be a blessing to others, win others over to Christ by our actions of love, and we in many ways say, "No" to the Lord, when He ask us to help out. "Sorry, Holy Spirit, I just don't have time!” "Oh, I wish I could help you, but not today.” Often the Lord asking us to do something comes in the form of a neighbor or friend needing time from us. Of course if God spoke to us audibly we would hop right to it! Well, right after we changed our underwear that is. LOL!!!
I wanted to hear other women’s opinions about this, so I asked some of my friends (women I had asked for a ride) how they felt about having so much to do? And they all basically answered the same way. They didn't like it! They could feel that things aren't right and there just doesn't seem to be enough time. One of the women is a homeschool mom, one has a big job at a national organization and is in the process of starting her own business, and another has a job where she works only when her kids are in school. Three different women from three different walks of life with the common thread of, “Too much to do.” Two are married and the one starting her own business is single. Yet, all three of them feel there is just not enough time. Period!
I asked them, "What do you plan to do about it?" and two of them had already started making changes. Surprisingly they both started at their respective churches. Both, being in leadership roles, had their plates filled with church obligations that seemed to be consuming them. One shared how there were always meetings on Sundays for her, either before service or after. So she resigned from some of her groups because not only did she have all of the Sunday meetings, but a big chunk of time went into actually serving in the ministries themselves. Same for the other woman with meetings and rehearsals several times a week and Wednesday evening services.
Both of these women have full days to say the least, and they each have an elderly parent they help on a weekly basis. At the end of the day, they are often exhausted. Yet they are very successful in rising early enough to spend time praying, and reading their Bibles to start their day off, but often that’s it, because their days were so full that once they have reached a point to call it a day, they usually crawl into bed or fall asleep trying to watch TV. Is this sounding familiar to anyone?
There are so many different dynamics in family structures that I can’t begin to cover what makes one person’s plate full versus another. For example I have a friend who has 11 children, a husband, some animals (I think) and she homeschools. Another friend has 10 children, a husband (she is happy two are in college now) but no animals; a third has 9 children, a husband, and homeschools too. Oh, it doesn’t stop there, I have two more that have 8 children, husbands and are homeschool moms also. Wow!!! Praise God for women like them. They are my heroes! But I am sure the things that seem to leave them no time are totally different than my friends who were leaders in ministry.
By no means have I forgotten the single moms (I'm one myself) or those who are working and pursing degrees in higher education, working two jobs, or caring for elderly parents. We have grandmothers who are raising or helping to raise their grandchildren. This is my point: our plates are so full no matter our age, martial status, or family dynamics, yet nowhere in the Bible do I see where God has changed His command that we are to have a Sabbath rest.
As Believers we so much want to live a life that pleases God, yet we kind of skirt around His resting command. For high school I attended a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school, and one thing the Adventists, Jews and Messianic Jews do is observe resting on their Sabbath. Why? Because it is written.
As a child, on Sunday you couldn't even buy gas. Everything was closed except your neighborhood store and bakery, which only opened for a few hours in morning. The Sunday Blue Laws kept the stores and most other retail establishments closed for the day. There wasn't much of anything on TV until the evening when the Ted Mack and Ed Sullivan show came on. Sunday you went to church and the rest of the day was a time for family dinners, company coming over and or being quiet. As a child I read a lot on Sunday, and often took a good nap. What has changed for us?
The world decided "No more Sunday Blue laws" and they would have "24/7 Commerce." And God's people decided to follow along. I am guilty of ripping and running 7 days a week also so don't think I am leaving myself out, because I'm not. But there is a real downside to when the body, mind and soul are not rested.
Women handle being tired and stressed out very differently than men do, we become irritable and cranky. We are quick to snap and bite someone’s head off, often those closest to us. We make silly mistakes from poor judgment, we walk in a perpetual state of frustration, not really finding enjoyment in the life we have. And then here comes resentment, and woe is me. Yep, our old buddies, "Depression and pity party!" Depression and Pity Parties are BFF’s and they have another pal called Illness! He likes to come around after resentment and depression have worked us over. And we must not forget that a tried and stressed out woman sets the entire tone for her household. You know that old saying, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” There’s a lot of truth to that.
Do I have the answers for you? Nope! I'm just trying to encourage you to take a hard look at how much rest you are not getting and why? What changes can you and or your family make?
If you would take a moment to write a blurb and share with us where you find yourself struggling in the area of time management I know others would really appreciate that. Or some of you may have already figured out how to make time to rest. It would be encouraging to your sisters if you shared that nugget of gold with us. It might be an hour a day, or 4 hours one day a week. Inquiring minds what to know! ~Smile~
Personally, I’ve made several changes. For one, I found time from Facebook and TV. That’s right, just cutting back on those two things gave me on average of 2 to 3 hours a day to use in getting back on track with things I know I should be doing, but kept putting on the back burner. It is disobedience my dear sisters to put anything on the back burner that God has instructed us to do. When we don't have enough time to oblige the Lord, then something is totally amiss. I have a friend who cooks a week’s worth of meals for her family on Saturday mornings. I’m not quite there yet, but I have been able to free up not having to cook every day by cooking double meals when I do cook. Like anything in this life, it is a process, but small baby steps do have a way of turning into leaps and bounds.
Next week, I will talk a bit more on freeing up time to be of service to others. Oh, I know you gals will just love that. ~Smile~ But you will be surprised at how the little things can make such a huge impact in the Kingdom of God.
I want to thank each and every one of you for joining me today; I am so blessed to have been given this honor to be able to write to you. I pray that if nothing else I have moved you to rethink and reorder your days so that there is rest for you or you get back on track.
As a thank you for spending time with me, I am having a drawing of a surprise gift from Cupteavity.com. Send me an email to:
You have until Tuesday, Sept 29th, 5pm to submit your email. Please just one email per person. This drawing is only for the women who come to this blog site. The winner will be announced next Wednesday and I will contact you via email for your shipping information.
Don’t forget to post comments. It is very freeing to know that you are not alone in the everyday struggles of this life.
Geneses 2: 3 (NIV) And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Love & Peace
Ponnie
