How do you spend your time?

Satan uses our schedules against us. I really believe that.

We spend our time doing lots of things--lots of things that aren't 'spending' time with God and then we are too tired to spend true, quality time with God. We complain that we don't have time to eat right, to exercise, to spend with the people we love, or to spend in prayer. And then we wonder why we are stressed out, burnt out, unhealthy and unhappy.

And then--when we do pray we sound off a litany of things for God to do for us while not even taking another breath to thank Him. We don't stop to listen--we just go--because to us spending quality time with God is for us to put in all the effort in the relationship. Real relationships are two way but our prayer lives reflect one way relationships. We don't have time to stop and listen. I mean, after all, we are taking the time to spend with God, right? We need to keep on moving to the next thing on our schedule...

In full-time ministry we are subject to this...we spend all of our time doing 'God's work,' but how much time are we really spending with God? Sure, we can say that everything we do--feeding the hungry, clothing those who need clothes, listening to those who need a listening ear, etc--is spending time with God. I would argue that these things are necessary but are not a substitute for spending quality, alone time with God.

The problem is that we walk around pretending as if doing God's work is a substitute for spending time with God. As a result we get tired, stressed out, burnt out and become unhealhty.

We let our schedule control us and the time we have to spend with God rather than the other way around. Satan uses it against us.

I spent some time with a prominent member of our church who is unhappy in life. From the outside looking in it appears as if she has everything she needs to be happy but on a recent leadership retreat she was asked what her priorities in life really are. Her priorities and how she spends her time did not match up with each other. Now she's searching and struggling about what to do. It's a difficult place to be.

Is how you spend your time reflective of who you say you are--a disciple? A true, committed believer yearning to grow in closer relationship with the author of perfect love?

If not, you need to ask God to help you live out who and what you say you are. Don't give Satan the victory...