We live in a time starved society that relentlessly pushes us to the limits. We are constantly pushed to buy more, do more, accomplish more, and conquer more. We are pushed to be more productive, more efficient, and more expedient. We live day to with a rush, rush, rush – hurry, hurry, hurry – more, more, more - mentality and lifestyle. It is insane what passes for normal these days with regard to how we utilize our time and I blame it on the microwave oven.
Families no longer have the time to eat together – and thanks to the microwave – they don’t have to. Actually, we could probably do away with kitchen tables for dining, because the typical family dinner is now a round of Happy Meals grabbed at the drive through in the 15 minutes between ball practice and dance lessons.
For most of us the schedules that we impose on ourselves consume our lives. If we were honest when someone asked, “Are you enjoying life?” we would have to say, “No, and I don’t have time to talk about it!.” And all of this is NORMAL?!
Now, take a deep breath . . . What if? What if instead of concluding that we don’t have enough time to do everything? What if we embraced the truth – no matter how different or weird it might be? We have just the right amount of time:
By his divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory. 2 Peter 1:3 CEB
We don’t need more time. We just need to use the time we have differently. The truth is we find time for what is important to us (Golf, sports, dinner with friends, haircuts). Everyday most of us say something like . . . “I just don’t have enough time to work out . . . to read the Bible . . . to go to church this week . . . to meet for lunch . . . to add one more thing.” Catch yourself the next time you say “I don’t have time” then tell yourself the truth – this isn’t a priority for me.
Normal people do normal things at a breakneck pace that never leaves enough time to do the important things. Unfortunately as much as we want to believe this pace of life is new to our generation – it was a problem during the time of Jesus as well:
While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.” Luke 10:38-40 CEB
Mary and Martha are both presented with the same opportunity – spend time with Jesus. Mary was no different than Martha – they both had things to do – normal things on the normal daily to-do list. Mary made a deliberate choice. She wasn’t lazy. She chose to focus on what mattered most. Think about it . . . when is the last time you focused on what matters most for even a moment? Mary embraced the moment while Martha was task driven.
We are all too much like Martha: preoccupied, distracted, just plain busy being busy. The things that Martha was doing weren’t bad things. She wasn’t being sinful. We might even say that what she was doing was good and necessary. We would probably do the same thing if Jesus was coming over . . . Got to clean, dust, get out the best china, table linens, new candles, bake a cake, put out the good towels in the bathroom, pretty soap, make a good impression . . . Sound familiar?
Martha’s dilemma is our challenge. We lived convinced that all that we are doing is necessary, good, and right for us to do. We believe that busy is normal. It’s just the way it is.
What if that isn’t normal? What if we are called to live differently? What if we were called to live within a new, and yet weird time zone?
If we follow Christ we are not supposed to be like everyone else. We are supposed to be becoming like Christ – weird huh? In order for us to become weird, we are going to have to change how we think about time. So how do we embrace this weird new time standard in our lives? Allow me to share three ways to embrace Time in your life in a new (albeit weird) way:
Remember Schoolhouse Rock’s “Conjunction Junction”? “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?” If we want to combat busyness in our lives we need to change our conjunction. Instead of saying “and” we need to learn to say “or.” We need to especially teach this to our children, but they will only learn by what we model to them. There are all kinds of good things we can do. We need to learn to do the best things. We need to learn that we don’t have to do everything.
While normal people add things to their to-do list, perhaps you could do something weird and drop something or start your own to-don’t list. That leads me to my next suggestion for dealing with time:
So be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly. Ephesians 5:15 CEB
Pretty simple - We are to be wise, not foolish. I think that is another way of saying be weird, not normal. To do this we have to learn to ask better questions of ourselves concerning time. The question isn’t am I free? Or can I? The question should be Is this the best or a wise use of my time? We must learn to say no to good things (or at least say maybe some other time), so that we will be able to say yes to the best things. In this world, we allow too many good things to become the enemy of the best things.
Now, Let’s make this personal. Parents from the moment your children are born the clock is ticking. From that moment until the time they are 18 and moving out or heading to college, you have 940 Sundays (Saturdays, Fridays). By the time they are 9 you only have 520 left. After today, there will only be 49 Sundays left this year. What wise choices will you make with those days? Making wise choices is not easy. Sometimes the wise choice might even be weird by everyone else’s standards.
Finally, we need to learn to take the time to rest. We live as if we are afraid that if we don’t run nonstop, trying everything the world has to offer, that we will somehow miss out on something. We are addicted to busyness. We are dependent on our to-do list. We live as if our lives would end if our list was ever not full. When is the last time you actually rested?
We attack everything with a vengeance. We live in life in high gear. We believe we are ‘not normal’ unless we are exhausted on every level and stressed beyond imagination. We live chained to an ever growing to-do list for work, home, family, activities, shopping, repairs, maintenance, commitments, you name it.
When we do seek rest – we attack with a passion. We put it on our list – take a nap, take vacation, book a trip to the spa. We scheduled it, we plan it, we will rest or else! I know. I have been that person. I even revert to that person from time to time. I used to attack vacations!
Compare that with how weird it is to meet someone who is calm, relaxed, at ease, and peaceful. Our immediate reaction is that I want whatever medication there on?
What if getting rest was your norm instead of needing rest? Would that be weird? In our use of time, we are dreadfully in need of a come-to-Jesus meeting.
Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. Matthew 11:28-29 CEB
If we are to be fully alive we need the time to recharge with God. We need to break from the chains of our schedule and learn to embrace resting with God. Remember Eric Liddell (Chariots of Fire)? He refused to run on Sunday. Now that is weird.
What if you made Sunday worship a non-negotiable? What if you were stubborn about keeping a Sabbath hour? Would that be extreme? Would it be weird?
If you want a normal life, do what normal people do.
If you want to know God and walk with Him daily, you are going to have to do what few people are willing to do. You will have to choose to be different:
Eliminates some ‘ands’ – add some ‘ors’
make wiser decisions regarding your time
and learn to take time to rest with God.
People it is time to get weird. Normal isn’t working.
So, if you can spare a minute, let me ask, “What will you do with your time this week?”
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