which one is it?...

in order to treat your time as a gift from GOD we not only need a right plan but also a right perspective, a right way of looking at things with the right plan.

now in this matter of managing your time there are conflicting messages such as, “you need to work but you also need to rest.”  which one is it?  or, “you need to have goals and plans but you need to leave it all in GOD’s hands.”  which one is it?  or, “you need to be totally focused, put all your energy on one thing but you need to be flexible at the same time.”  and these conflicts can be confusing except GOD has designed us so that it’s both.  there is a balance of how HE works things. 

ecclesiastes 3.1 (niv) says, there is time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.  GOD designed seasons in the way that HE works time.  you don’t always plant, you don’t always grow, you don’t always harvest.  there is a time for different things.  the same thing’s true in our lives.  there is a time for different things. 

so if i’m going to have the right perspective on my time then the key decision here is i will balance my life. 

realize that there are different seasons in your life.  someone has written “as a gift from GOD, time should be used playfully as well as energetically, big heartily and generously as well as carefully and thoughtfully, in people oriented as well as task oriented ways, with an eye to quality as well as quantity and a sense of wonder and adventure.”  that’s the balance of it. 

in the balance of work and rest you’re going to have to admit something about yourself.  you have to admit that there’s a love/hate relationship that most of us have with busyness.  we say on the one hand, i hate being so busy.  it’s terrible being so busy.”  we talk about it, we complain about it.  but there’s a part of us that loves busyness.  because busyness makes us feel important.  important people are busy people.  busy people are important people.  it makes us feel somehow that we are important.  and the love of that keeps us driving all the time when we don’t need to. 

the truth is, you’re important to GOD no matter if you’re busy or not.  you could have had the worst week in the world, you didn’t accomplish a thing this week but you’re just as important to GOD.  your importance doesn’t depend on your level of activity.  once you and i begin to realize that the grip of busyness can begin to be loosened in our lives.

the truth is busyness and laziness are just two ends of the spectrum.  the middle is using my time as a gift from GOD.  but on the end is using it for myself – business doing too much with my times: laziness, doing too little with my time.  but in both cases i’m selfishly using it just for me.  in the middle it’s a gift from GOD, used like HE says to use it.  i have to confess that in order to balance work and rest. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the benefits of a day of rest…

HE’s commanded us to take a day of rest each week. 

exodus 34.21 (ncv) talks about that, you must work for 6 days but on the seventh day you must rest.  even during the planting season and the harvest season. 

did you notice it said, even during the planting season and the harvest season?  the busiest time!  the time when you would say, “no, i don’t need to rest now.  i’ll do that later.”  in the busiest time you need to rest.

is there ever a week when you might need to skip a day off because of an emergency?  of course there is.  but when that becomes 2 weeks and 3 weeks and 4 weeks and 5 weeks you’re in trouble because GOD has designed us to need a day of rest.  you need to take a day off. 

·         do you need a business reason for that?  you’ll get more done if you take a day off.  your best ideas will always come a few days after a day off. 

·         do you need a health reason for that?  you’ll live longer by taking a day off.  study after study after study shows that. 

·         do you need a spiritual reason to take a day off?  you’ll develop your relationship with GOD and the people that are around you. 

that’s how GOD made us.  it’s that part of our schedule, that plan in our schedule.  HE said be sure you don’t miss this one.  it’s probably the most broken of the ten commandments, this day of rest that GOD wants us to take.

just a thought from the front porch…

we are at the center of it all…

GOD rested on the seventh day because HE had a plan for your life and my life.

hebrews 4.9-11 (niv), there remains then a sabbath rest for the people of GOD. [this is one of those deep truths of the bible that we don’t come across often enough.] for anyone who enters into GOD’s rest also rests from his own work just as GOD did from his. let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.

listen as long as i'm depending upon my work, the things that i do to get me to heaven, there’s no way i'm going to make it. i can work as hard as i want, there’s no way. but when i rest from my work and i enter into GOD’s rest – faith in JESUS CHRIST – guess what? that’s the key! that’s what brings me to HIM. so the sabbath day was also a picture of what JESUS CHRIST was going to do for us not only now but through all eternity. that’s why GOD rested.

the truths of the first chapter of genesis are ultimate but they’re also personal, they’re also individual.

now we also see that you and i are at the center of the entire creative process.

someone might say, “isn’t that prideful to say that we are at the center?” we’ve got people saying we live in the milky way galaxy out on some far corner in fact, most of the universe probably doesn’t even know about us. that’s a bad image of who we really are in GOD’s sight.

but when you look at genesis 1 and 2 it’s not prideful to say we’re at the center of creation. it’s biblical. if you look real closely at the bible you’ll find that nothing else in creation so much reflects GOD’s glory as you and i, so much affects GOD’s creation as you and i. that’s how important we are in creation.

just a thought from the front porch…

HE rested as an example for us to follow...

GOD rested on the seventh to give us an example to follow.

you and i need rest. we were built that way. if we don’t rest, we’ll break down. GOD says in exodus 20.9-11 (ncv), work and get everything done during six days each week. but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the LORD your GOD. the reason is that in six days GOD made everything. the sky, the earth, the sea and everything in them. on the seventh day HE rested.

i would suspect not many of us are resting one day out of the seven. and that’s one of the things that is stealing joy, stealing purpose in our lives.

how you rest is between you and the LORD. but you and i need rest. we need rest physically, we need rest emotionally, we need rest SPIRITually where we recharge. for most of us that day of rest is going to be the day of worship. that’s the best day because you’re already at church, already focusing on the LORD.

the key is in our hectic life that we live, we need to rest. GOD rested as an example to us.

just a thought from the front porch…

a snack and a nap…

#2 of the “top five” things you can do to not be easily angered is to get some rest. more often than not when it comes to being angry, we just need a snack and a nap. that’s what we need to make it through.

there’s no better example of this than elijah in 1 kings 19. elijah is the prophet of GOD. he has just battled 450 false prophets on a mountain. one prophet of GOD against these 450 false prophets. that’s what i would call a poor “prophet” margin! he’s victorious over 450.

the next day queen jezebel says, “this isn’t over yet! i’m still after you.” elijah has a meltdown. he goes ballistic. he runs as fast as he can to the other end of the country, all the way talking about his depression and his anger, all the way talking about what a terrible thing. you can almost hear the wheels spinning. “i have this great victory! couldn’t i enjoy it for one day? no! all of a sudden, she’s after me again.” all the way to the other end of israel he keeps giving the same “poor me!” speech to GOD. “i’m the only one left. you’ve only got me, and look what you’re doing to me.” if you hear yourself continuing to give the same poor me speech, it’s a pretty good indication that you’re too tired. or that you need something to eat.

elijah gets as far away as he can from the situation, and then GOD encourages him to get some rest and eat. 1 kings 19.5 (niv) says, elijah lay down under a tree and fell asleep. all at once an angel touched him and said, [and here’s what the angel came all the way from heaven to earth to say to elijah] “get up and eat.” that’s an important message. lay down and rest. get up and eat. that’s one of the most important things you and i can do to break through the anger in our lives.

one of the reasons why you’re so angry is you are just too busy. the busyness of life, the pace of life is what’s creating so much of this anxiety. GOD invites you, before you do anything else, get some rest. take some time off. take the break that you need. that’s where all this is coming from.

just a thought from the front porch…