by Elizabeth Ann Boyles | Oct 13, 2013 | Practical Bible Studies
A friend left a comment on my last post: “God’s time is endless but human beings are limited. How shouldn’t time control me? How do we catch God’s schedule?” Really good questions! Here are some thoughts on the subject. See what you think.
First, a parable that has always intrigued me is in Matthew 20:1-16. Jesus tells of a landowner who hired workers at different parts of the day and promised each a full day’s wage. At the end of the day, the landowner paid as he’d promised. The workers who had worked longer complained that the ones hired much later had gotten the same wage. But the landowner said he had the right to be generous. The story’s key truth is that our salvation doesn’t depend on any service we do, but on simply being “hired”—having a personal relationship with God through Jesus. God’s grace (generosity) made the length of time the hired men worked irrelevant. Although the parable’s main point isn’t about time, it raises a question in my mind about how God looks at time in our lives.
Many truths about God are beyond our understanding because we are finite. Perhaps “time” is one of these. When hearing of some vibrant, effective Christian dying at a young age, haven’t many of us thought of this as a “waste”? Why him or her of all people? But isn’t it possible that the amount of time we are genuinely available for God’s service is magnified in God’s gracious economy just as God’s power extended the five loaves and two fish so that they fed 5,000 people (Matthew 14:15-21).
If that’s the case, should we just forget about the constraints of time? Our Western worldview says that success is based on accomplishing things in a timely manner. The traditional Eastern worldview focuses more value on being, not acting. It seems to me that the Bible presents a balance of both these views.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-18 to be careful how we live, to redeem the time by wisely using every opportunity as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The key for having time be our servant and not our owner is to trust and obey the Lord in each circumstance. To do this, having our minds “renewed” each day by Scripture is essential (Romans 12:1-2)—the “being” part.
We can get quick, necessary thought realignments throughout the day, but it takes time to renew our minds and hearts sufficiently so that God “restores our souls” (Psalm 23). Consider how frequently we get input from the world’s point of view, such as more stuff is better; don’t let anyone push you around; if it feels good, do it. And how about this one: time is money! Rushing through the day without a renewed mind is a sure way to waste time (John 15:5).
What about our to-do lists (mentioned in the previous post)? They can help us prayerfully prioritize our tasks, and we can begin to carry out our list, depending on the Lord’s guidance and empowerment. But when things take a lot longer than scheduled (usually the case for me), when we are waiting in the slowest line in the supermarket and watching people in the other lines speed out the door, when someone interrupts and needs our assistance, it’s good to remember that God’s timing and the world’s sense of time are vastly different. Being available to God at that moment is what’s important—listening to Him like Mary did, while Martha scurried around and complained. God’s grace will be more than sufficient despite the pressures of time.
This viewpoint on time is easily swallowed up by my life’s busyness. For me, it is a part of the heavenly, eternal view that needs to be renewed often and cultivated—and that’s an understatement. So, what do you think?
by Elizabeth Ann Boyles | Sep 23, 2013 | Practical Bible Studies
When I started this website, I borrowed WordPress for Dummies from the library. I promptly found that I knew less than the “dummies” when it came to building a website. Sometimes I’d puzzle for hours over a way to do something. However, when I’d finally remember to pray, —I kid you not— the solution would come right away. A major lesson for me: Don’t just pray at the start of the day or the beginning of the project. Ask the Lord for help throughout.
Every day we face deadlines or a to-do list. Deadlines are helpful, but they can also drive us almost crazy. Reading the account in Luke 5:1-11 of Jesus and the three fishermen brought some reminders to me about handling stressful projects.
First, Peter, James, and John had fished all night and caught nothing. Usually they could manage fairly well because the nearby lake had lots of fish, provided providentially by God. We also have God’s good earth to provide for us, but we all run into difficulties. Jesus offered a new way for the fishermen to succeed. He was willing to go fishing with them. The wonderful thing is that Jesus is with Christians today and offers His help to us, too. When we ask and believe God for His strength and wisdom, we still have to work hard, but we have the joy of His fellowship and the confidence of good results.
I’ve found the to-do list can present some temptations in addition to ignoring God’s willingness to help. Peter had worked all night, and then Jesus came along. Suppose Peter had complained about the time it would take to go back out on the lake (although there is a hint of this at first). Meeting deadlines is important, especially in our time-oriented Western culture, but I need the reminder that time shouldn’t control me. I need to focus on the Lord and trust Him even when I feel that time is being wasted – often really hard to do.
I’m pretty happy with having built the website. After all, I’m elderly, but I managed some new technology :-). However, going back to the fishermen, Peter could hardly have taken much pride in catching the fish even though he was no doubt a good fisherman. After all, God created the lake and designed the fish, and Jesus gathered the fish for the spectacular catch. The Bible tells us “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:3
If I’m carrying out a project with an attitude of faith in God, I should acknowledge the one who makes all things possible. Ephesians 2:19-20, “. . . Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What a great reminder Psalm 25:1-5 gives for carrying out to-do lists! “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust . . . 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame . . . 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” No need to be stressed, when we can be blessed!
Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV® Copyright © 1973,1978,1984,2011 by Bilica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
by Elizabeth Ann Boyles | Jun 29, 2013 | Practical Bible Studies
Think about reasons that people procrastinate. We all have tasks that we want to delay doing. Moses didn’t procrastinate, but he was reluctant to go on God’s mission. His reluctance helps me see why I sometimes procrastinate in doing important things.
Scripture passages are from the NIV Bible. See the copyright information at the end of the post.
I. Moses acted on his own with disastrous results.
See Exodus 2:11-15. Several million Hebrew people were slaves. Moses tried to help just two of them and utterly failed. He tried to take on the unjust system in Egypt by his own power and wisdom.
II. God called Moses for a mission, but Moses tried to get out of it.
God told Moses in Exodus 3:7 – 10, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers . . . 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Talk about a mammoth job!
A. Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Moses’ first objection was that he was not important. He was no longer an Egyptian prince. Understandably, he felt inadequate. Past failure can make any of us hesitant to take on a project.
God’s answer in Exodus 3:12 is “I will be with you.” That’s true for us, too, isn’t it? God is with His children whether our “missions” are big or small. Think about a student’s school assignments—a much smaller task, but often challenging. Christian students are gaining skills and general knowledge in school that will help them serve God and others more effectively. Therefore, those assignments, such as the dreaded research paper, can be like a little “mission.”
B. Exodus 3:13 – 14 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Wow! An amazing answer to Moses’ question about God’s name (and to an unspoken question Moses might have had about God’s nature). God’s name declares that He is eternal, unchanging, and the foundation of everything else. He is worthy of complete trust.
C. Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” God answered this objection by showing Moses three signs that he could give the elders. God’s lesson for Moses was to depend on God’s power and not fear how others would react—an awfully good lesson, don’t you think?
D. Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” I can almost picture Moses shaking in his sandals. Sometimes we may think we don’t have the particular skills to do the job that God has put on our hearts or directly in our path. But let’s look at God’s answer.
Exodus 4:11,12 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? . . . Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” If we have a difficult task, God may develop skills in us that we never thought we could have.
E. Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “Lord, please send someone else.” Moses now had enough promises from God. So what’s going on here? Moses, at this point in his life, did not have enough faith in God to obey Him. God was angry with Moses, but told him that his brother would accompany him. It’s easy to judge Moses for his lack of faith, but I know I’ve been guilty of the same kind of failure. And the rest of Exodus shows how Moses became a giant of faith.
III. Truths from Exodus and other scriptures can be applied to the much smaller tasks that we have to do at home, at work, or in school.
A. Paul said in Phil.4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Paul’s words can be a tremendous reminder that the Creator of the universe is willing to reach into our lives and situation.
B. Christians are given many wonderful promises, such as James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Instead of procrastinating, the step toward success is to ask for wisdom and then trust God enough to plunge in and begin the task. It’s vital to pray not only at the beginning but also as we do the work—something I easily forget to do.
C. Proverbs 26:13 A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”Sometimes it’s tempting to procrastinate because of a frightening, but unreal “lion” that roars at us when we look at a task. As we trust God and tackle the job, the lion may be unmasked as a simple house cat.
IV. Here are some other suggestions to avoid procrastination.
- Write a list of the tasks and prioritize them according to both their importance and due date. Sometimes I make the mistake of starting with a task just because it’s small and looks easy. Small tasks can eat up a lot more time than expected. The number one priority is the place to start.
- If the task is really big, it helps to break it into smaller, scheduled steps. Then follow the schedule as much as possible, but allow changes. We own the to-do list; it doesn’t own us.
- An effective method (actually a trick) I often use, especially for cleaning the house, is to start working, but promise myself that I can stop the unpleasant job after a certain amount of time. An object at rest is hard to move. An object in motion is hard to stop. I often find that I don’t want to stop in the middle after all.
- We need to guard against interruptions from friends or phone calls or the enticement of the computer.
- Finally, it’s good to picture the satisfaction we’ll feel after doing the hard job. It really is satisfying, isn’t it!
What are other suggestions to help us not procrastinate? I’d love to hear from you.
Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV® Copyright © 1973,1978,1984,2011 by Bilica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
