When Life is Busy

I’m in a particularly busy season of life right now.

Between my roles as wife, mom, foster mom, homeschooler, writer, musician, and teacher, I’m stretched very thin these days.

I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say that I have very few spare moments in my day.

And lest you get the wrong idea, let me state very plainly that I’m not bragging about my busyness. It’s far from my concept of ideal. In fact, I’ve been asking God pretty frequently (and perhaps even begging and pleading at times), “Lord, can I be finished with any of these roles yet?”

So far, His answer continues to be a gentle, “Not yet.”

How about you? Perhaps you’re winding down the school year with projects and papers and tests. Maybe you’re juggling the extracurriculars of multiple kids on top of being active in your local church. Are you bearing a heavy load at work? Or caring for aging parents while you’re trying to help your adult children and stay involved with your grandchildren?

Life has busy seasons. And while sometimes that means we’ve taken on more than God wants us to, other times it means that we’re right where He wants us.

The best thing we can do in our seasons of busyness is to look for more of Him.

And the beautiful thing is that He’ll always let us find it.

Here are some lessons to cling to during a busy season.

Lessons for When Life is Busy

His grace really is enough. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul testifies:

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

This is a well-known verse among Christians, but when is the last time you had a chance to actually test it and prove its truth?

I’ll tell you when: it was when you were weak. Your last hard time. Your last busy season. Your last period of knowing for sure that there was no way you could finish. No way you could make it work. No way you could get it done.

There’s a good chance you didn’t even realize it at the time, because so often our tendency during hard times is to put our heads down and plow through.

(Or maybe that’s just me?)

But what would happen if we looked up instead?

Maybe…just maybe we would begin to view those hard times in our lives as opportunities to cash in on a profoundly amazing promise from God.

And, well…that changes everything, doesn’t it?

Because instead of waking up worrying about how I’m going to accomplish everything today and falling into bed exhausted but somehow not too tired to fret about tomorrow, I can jump out of bed each morning with eager anticipation because I just can’t wait to watch God at work.

I’ve had a front-row seat to watch God’s faithful provision over the past few months. Sometimes He provides by allowing me to accomplish more in less time. Other times He gives me more energy than I could possibly expect on so little sleep. Often He’ll prompt someone to offer help in a very practical way. And other times He removes an obligation I was expecting to fulfill.

How will His grace be enough for you? I dare you to watch and see.

My life is meant to make much of Him. I’m not talking about doing more for God. I’m talking about doing what He asks you to do, and then making sure everyone knows there’s no way you could do it without Him.

I suspect His glory is magnified when there’s no humanly possible way to explain how we have the time or the energy or the functioning brain cells to survive (much less thrive) each day.

Because really, we all know that we’re all-too-willing to take credit when we’re feeling strong and capable and self-sufficient.

When I settle for my own meager quantities of self-sufficiency instead of feasting on the bounty of God’s sufficiency, I’m cheating myself and everyone within my realm of influence. I’m cheating us all out of an opportunity to see a living, caring, active, involved God who actually works on behalf of His children.

So that thorn in your flesh that you strain against has a priceless purpose; it reminds you how much you need your God.

And just maybe it reminds everyone else, too.

How will you show off the glory of God? I dare you to testify boldly of His grace that never fails to be enough.

Time is too precious to waste. During busy seasons, when free moments are few and far between, I’m reminded that every moment of every day is precious.

Sacred even.

Because each one is a gift granted to me for some divine purpose. And that is a treasure I’m responsible for stewarding well.

I must confess that in times past I’ve been guilty of squandering hours of time each day. Piddling it away doing things that amounted to a whole lot of nothing, both now and in eternity.

This busy season is teaching me that even my “free time” is not my own.

After all, I was bought with a price (I Corinthians 6:19-20). If my body isn’t my own, why should I expect to retain ownership of my time?

How will you live the moments of your days – even your “free” ones – as though it matters to God how you spend them? I dare you to offer even your leisure time to Him.

Just Let Go!

Are you at the end of your rope during a season of busyness?

Take heart, friend. The end of your rope is right where He wants you.

He wants you there so you can show the onlookers in your life just how much you trust Him by daring to let go.

And maybe even by doing it with a smile on your face because you’re that confident He’ll catch you.

Because He will.