A busy life isn’t necessarily a productive life. We tend to fill our schedules up with loads of things, trying to fit everyone in and to help out with everything we’re asked to do. We juggle study, work, relationships, church, daily responsibilities and can end up so busy that we’re stressed, struggling and not being productive at all. God wants us to work hard at everything we do, as if we were doing it for Him not people (Colossians 3:23) but He doesn’t want us to burn out and sacrifice time with Him for the busyness. The story of Mary and Martha sums up Jesus’ view on this. Martha was running around trying to be the perfect host when Jesus came to visit. Mary was sat at Jesus’ feet, spending time with Him and listening to what He’d got to say. Jesus said to Martha: ‘You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better’ (Luke 10:41-42 NIV). We can get ourselves into exactly the same kind of position. We try our best to do everything, get ourselves too busy and miss out on the restful times in God’s presence. But Jesus says ‘come with me…to a quiet place and get some rest.’ Sometimes we need to step away from the busyness. Serving from a place of rest will be far more productive than serving from a place of busyness. God says: ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 NIV). Stillness brings about perspective and a reminder of who God is. It’s vital that we’re taking time out of our busy schedules to have that time of stillness and rest with God.

What now?

Use a calendar or diary to help schedule your time. Put it in all your commitments and make sure you schedule some time to spend with God too. If it’s looking busy, think about what you could take out.