The mask of busyness deceives us, robs us, and eventually mocks us. Busyness defined is the state or condition of having too much to do. This state of mind leads to stress, anxiety, frustration and defeat; none of which end positively in the long run. Shining light on the busyness in our lives reveals a void we attempt to fill by anything other than Christ alone.

I am guilty of allowing busyness to be the driver in my life. I affectionately called it “multi-tasking”, “taking care of my family” and so on; you can fill in the blank with a myriad of terms, but when you come face to face with it, it’s simply BUSYNESS!

My “busyness” began to suffocate me; I felt helpless and defeated. It had long been my master, my god; an idol I unknowingly worshiped in my life. I had bowed to it and waltzed with it for so long that it had stolen the joy in my life and was snuffing out the glow of Christ. I had become dull; a muted vessel of the Lord, definitely not shining. Once I recognized it, the villain of busyness was unwilling to release its grip on me. I was addicted to busyness! The golden question I had to ask myself was “Why? Why was I so busy?” The habit began in high school as a way to avoid uncomfortable situations. It followed me into college and my marriage. The heart issue was that God was not enough in my life to fill the voids that others brought. Busyness numbed the pain and masked the hurt; it was not a friend.

A wise man once shared with my husband and me the concept of money management and time management having the same basic core principle of using a budget. This would be slightly different than a schedule. A schedule organizes your time, whereas a budget prioritizes your time. You should not make a schedule without a budget first. Like a family budget, you can only spend the money you have in the bank. You schedule payments based on the budget. So it is with a time budget, you can only budget 24 hours a day. Budgeting refers to prioritizing based on one’s greatest need over want. For instance, I’ve been invited to go to lunch with friends, however, I have a doctor’s appointment at the same time. I must forgo lunch because it is wiser to take care of my health first. The need comes before the want which requires a healthy perspective on how to prioritize. I am learning the art of prioritizing based on a simple rule spelled out in The Greatest Commandment:

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”
Mark 12:28-34 NIV

This may seem contrary to some, however, Jesus commands us to love others as we love ourselves. If I neglect my physical and health needs by overcommitting, then I am allowing busyness to dictate who I love; it’s not God, myself, or others – it’s BUSYNESS. By no means have I reached a place of acceptable practice in time budgeting; however, I have made steps to correcting this pattern with the Lord’s guidance.

Take care of yourself by spending time with God first. Care for your basic needs, then tend to the needs of your spouse, family, job and others. Budgeting the hours of the day will reduce our nature to overcommit therefore, busyness will no longer be in the driver’s seat, God will be, and oh what a joy filled drive that promises to be!

My prayer for you is that you will place God before all else in your budget as top priority and that you will budget your time so that you love God first and love others as you love yourself.

Joyfully Healing from the Inside Out,