moves of God – warning sign #3 – misplaced priorities
Jesus told us that two commandments summarized what God requires of us – to love Him and to love others as we love ourselves. It’s interesting how the second one is worded. When our priorities are out of order, we tend to not take care of ourselves properly. We don’t eat a balanced diet; we don’t get enough sleep; we take on too many responsibilities. We tend to believe all kinds of lies when we don’t take care of ourselves physically or emotionally. Our thinking becomes skewed, often anxiety creeps in, and we tend to make decisions that we later regret. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was so run down that he couldn’t think of any option except sitting down and praying that he would die, when all he needed was some food, water, and a good night’s sleep. Almost everyone I know struggles with balance in their lives – we live in a crazy world that is pulling us in 1000 different directions at once. We need to be in the habit of resting in the Lord and strengthening ourselves in Him. That will prevent us from falling into error, and then also we’ll have something of value to give others – we can only give what we have received. Jesus understood that we would be tempted to live unbalanced lives, and encouraged us in Matthew 11:28 – 30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I want to encourage you to make time with God the number one priority in your life. Not out of a sense of legalism or obligation, but as a way of saying, “God, you have first place in my life, and I want to invest in my relationship with You.” It’s been said that what we value the most is what we will devote our time, energy, and finances to. Find what works best for your personality and situation, and go for it. For me, if something is not on my calendar, it doesn’t get done. I have discovered that there is a lot more freedom in my life if I put the most important things on my schedule and tackle those first. I also leave a lot of space in my calendar and am learning that God seems to show up more often “along the journey” than at planned times. But if I didn’t have anything scheduled at all, I could easily spend all my time dealing with one crisis after another – there is always someone or something pulling on me. No matter how busy life is, I get alone with God every day to read the Bible, pray, and worship Him in song. These are precious times! Spending time with the Lord is primarily a relationship, but it is also a discipline. The same could be said for any relationship – if we want our relationships to grow, we need to invest time and energy into them. In our family we schedule time each week for Paul and me to be alone together, time for Paul and I to be with our children one-on-one, and family time. These are too important to be left to chance, because other things will always encroach on our time. How much more valuable is our relationship with our Creator and the Lover of our souls. Incidentally, I have found that as I order my priorities, discipline myself, and dedicate the first and best part of each day to God in an unhurried manner, I seem to be able to complete the day’s tasks with greater ease, because God gives me wisdom and strength and everything else I need.
God is after our hearts! The two greatest commandments are all about allowing Jesus to rule and reign in us personally, so that His Kingdom comes in ever-increasing measure and His love spills out of us into others. Let’s put our priorities in order and watch God move in us and through us, for His glory!
