Are You Busy – repost
July 30, 2009 by Marci
Looks like I’m going to be away for a couple days, so I am reposting a few old articles for the benefit of some new readers. This one kind of tells y0ou where I stand on “busy”. I’ll be back soon!!
As I was planning this post, I looked over loads of quotes and statistics and resources I have gathered over the past couple years to prove my theory that we are “busy” people living in a “busy” society. Then I thought, “Everyone already knows that.” I don’t need to tell you how over scheduled, frantic paced and stressed out we have all become. Our culture has grown to glorify those with the overflowing planners of activities. We tend to look with awe at those who seem to do it all. You know who I’m talking about. You may even be that person. You volunteer at your child’s school on a daily basis, coach the soccer team, bring treats to playgroup, teach Sunday school, organize the neighborhood cook-out….and on and on….all while keeping your family happy, clean, clothed and fed. After a long day of noble deeds, you should feel very rewarded and fulfilled. You should fall into restful, peaceful sleep. But wait….there you are, lying bed (after collapsing from exhaustion) tossing and turning, mind racing…thinking about the huge schedule of events the next day will bring. Guess what? You have bought into the lie that a full life starts with a full calendar. You are “busy”!
I believe busy is a 4-letter word. To me, busy means – Being Under Satan’s Yoke! It means wasting time on the extra stuff that really doesn’t matter in the long run. While our schedules may be full of “good” activities, the “good” might actually be hurting us if it takes us away from the best parts of our lives! I love the Corrie Ten Boom quote. “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” We can fill our lives with so many activities and responsibilities, that we miss out on the most important ones. We can miss out on what God has planned for our lives.
My goal is to get rid of all the busyness that gets in the way of what is most important in my life and to help others do the same. Let’s get to that place where our days are full of rewarding activity that bear fruit and the end of our days bring restful, deep sleep that only a fulfilled life can bring. Lets get to that place where “busy” is no longer part of our vocabulary!
Comments (4)
I’m already unbusy, so at least I got something right! LOL Now if I could just see some fruit from the activities I DO we’ll be all good
Dear Lord, please open my eyes to the fruit I bear and make it fruit pleasing in Your sight. In Jesus Name I pray…Amen!
Oh goody! Have fun!
You already know I love your thoughts on overcoming busy!! Perfect!! Talk to you soon!
I dread being busy too. Sometimes I think all of our simplification efforts are so we can take on even more… sort of a “I keep things simple so I can do more and stay busy” mentality. I’m really trying to do less, which is hard because then not everything gets done. But like you said, lose the “good” so we can strive for better!
A perfect post for me today. Nothing unusual has happened this week- just the normal stuff involved in working full time with 4 kids- one being a 5 month old- but the “busy” got to me bad this week!! I am all about trying to figure out how to make our life less busy! thanks for the post!