Daily Devotion

January 10, 2015

Three ways to change a “crazy busy” lifestyle.


Are you living a “crazy busy” lifestyle? Do you constantly run from one activity to another? Do you often eat while checking your email or calendar? Most importantly, are you so busy that you don’t have time to stop and listen to God? Developing an intimate relationship with God requires time. If you have been so busy that you haven’t had time to spend with God, it is time to change your focus.

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 demonstrates what it means to be so focused on your work and activities that you neglect to spend time with God. Martha was caught up in all the tasks she had to do, while Mary was sitting and listening to Jesus. When Martha complained about doing the work all by herself, Jesus told her that she shouldn’t be worried and upset about the household work. He said that Mary had made a better choice by sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus.

If you have gotten into a lifestyle of busyness, think about these three things:

  1. Be still.Be still and know that I am God!” (Psalms 46:10a). How often during your waking hours are you actually still? When you sit down, how often do you have your phone, your laptop or the remote control in your hand? There should be time each day when you stop your activity, put down the electronic devices, and be still. As you find time to be still in His presence, you will realize that He is God and that He has everything in your life under control.
  2. Be patient. “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” (Psalms 37:7a). Most people don’t like to wait. We become impatient with traffic, lines and delays. Our schedules are so tight that any wait is frustrating. We even become impatient with God. If God doesn’t speak to us in the first five minutes of prayer, we decide He isn’t talking today. When it comes to God, we need to learn to be patient, to listen, and to wait in faith-filled expectancy. God’s timing is perfect and you will receive the strength you need when you wait patiently on the Lord.
  3. Put God first.You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13). Intimacy with God must be the highest priority of your life. Why is it that we hear from God in crisis better than other times? It’s because a crisis moves hearing from God to priority number one. But until hearing from God is always our first priority, we will keep living from crisis to crisis. Don’t wait for a crisis to make God your top priority. Make sure that the first and most important thing you put on your schedule every day is the time you spend seeking God with your whole heart.

Fasting is a perfect time to readjust your “crazy busy” schedule. All of the time that you spend shopping for food, cooking, cleaning up after meals or going to a restaurant is time that can be shifted to seeking God. If your schedule has become so busy that God is getting short-changed, fasting will help you readjust your priorities so that you have time to be still and patiently wait on the Lord. God has blessings and increase planned for your life. Make sure you aren’t so busy that you miss what He wants to give you!

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