[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Monday, February 25, 2013

[Paul]

Well folks, I hope I have you all in my virtual room as I type up this message.  I'd hate to leave anyone out.  Despite it all, I hope that your day went well or is going well, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

The problem of busy-ness in our lives in this modern age seems to plague many people in our contemporary culture, and Christians are not immune from that by any means.  Busy-ness has become so pervasive that, I hate to say it, that in more cases than ever, God seems to be left out of some Christians' lives.  The article in question for today addresses this topic.  It's by Valorie Burton and is entitled "Busy, Busy," appearing in an issue of "Focus On the Family" several years ago and is rendered as follows:

If a video camera had followed you over the last seven days, what would it reveal about your life? Would it show you were fruitful and joyful? Overloaded and stressed out? It might disclose that you are too busy for your own good--and it's time to do something about it.  You're too busy if ...

You feel as though you are constantly trying to catch up at work or at home.

There's rarely a break in your schedule.

You are regularly late.

You don't have time to eat three healthy meals a day, much less one with your family.

You don't exercise.

Your mail is piled up because you haven't had time to open it.

Your to-do list is rarely checked off.

What free time?
Perhaps some of these situations describe you.  If so, you are not alone.  I surveyed more than 300 people about their busy schedules.  Seventy percent of the parents said they don't spend enough time with their children; 80 percent of those who are married said they don't spend enough time with their spouse.  Busyness affects your friendships, too--55 percent haven't had a friend over to their home in more than two months.  And forget about vacation; nearly 60 percent haven't had a seven-day vacation in more than a year.

You can blame busyness on our fast-paced culture, demanding jobs and technology that consumes time, but the truth is that busyness won't stop until you decide to slow down and reconnect with the people and things that matter most.  Some choices are simple ones:  making dinnertime a non-negotiable ritual in your home or taming your to-do list.  Other choices are tougher:  moving to a less expensive area so you can afford a less demanding job, for example.  What could you do differently to slow down?

Taming my schedule
One morning several years ago, I recall thinking about how to get unstuck from my rut.  My life was overloaded, yet there was always something more to do.  I wanted a bit of divine inspiration to help me.

I prayed, then listened for God to say something like, "Valorie, don't worry.  You're doing all the right things.  Just be patient.  Less stressful days are ahead." Confident that I was indeed doing "all the right things," what other message could there be for me? I listened for an answer, and the one I got was not what I wanted to hear.  One simple word kept coming to me:  _discipline.

And there you have Sister Valorie's article for today.  Maybe as blind people we haven't fallen victim to being too busy for the important things of life, but if any of us have ever been in the working world, our days were probably spent differently than what they are now.  It's a curious thing to me that, when I was working and had to get up at 4:30 in the morning in order to be ready for the bus to take me into downtown Baltimore to get to my place of employment on time, I spent much more quality time with the Lord than I did when laid off, except, of course, during those first several months when I pleaded with the Lord to show me a way out of my difficulties financially.  He did so, but as time went by I forgot about that quality time.  Oh well, enough of my private spiritual musings.  I'm sure it is or was the way of others, even if not on this list.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul