Tuesday, April 01, 2014

A, D, C, F, E, B. Out of order?

God is a god of ORDER.  He is not a God of BALANCE.  He created this world in a purposeful progression.  He established the seasons in a certain succession.  He made our bodies to function and to grow in an organized sequence.  


In Psalm 90:12, we read, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."  


That may mean count our days.  It may also mean make our days count.  As I read that verse today, I'm hearing the Lord tell me to ORDER my days.


That means put the first thing first (God first!), and let everyone/everything else fall into its right place after that.  Here is my list of priorities, in order of importance.


A.  God

B.   Husband

C.  Children

D.  Home

E.  Women's Ministry

F.  Other



My relationship with God is first, above all else.  Then my husband before my children, children before my home, home before my ministry, and ministry above all the rest.  It looks like an easy list to follow, doesn't it?


But how EASY it is to get these all mixed up!  I've fallen into the trap of allowing a lesser priority to come before a higher priority!  I have placed my home before my children when I must. finish. this. task...and, in turn, neglect building our relationship or their training.  My ministry is coming before my home when I clean it ONLY for the women coming over on a Tuesday evening, and not just because my work at home is for the Lord, or simply to clean house for my family's benefit.


Lately, I've noticed that my ministry has come even before my husband at times. I spent both my husband's birthday AND our 14th anniversary night downstairs in our basement helping other women with their own marriages!  They were both amazing nights!  My husband did not complain or express any concern about where I was focusing my time and thoughts those nights--he was encouraging me in that ministry.  But I was convicted. 


There is nothing inherently wrong with leading other women.  It is, in fact, a mandate from the Lord for older women to teach younger women. As I grow older with each passing year, I feel the responsibility already of becoming the older woman teaching younger women the commands of Titus 2:4-5. 


 It is so easy to give all that I have to my small group--to empty myself in efforts of helping everyone else--while I forget to feed myself the same truths.  It is so easy to even forget that I need to constantly be working on the same things in my own life and marriage!


Nothing grows unless you feed it.  I've been feeding good food to some amazing women, and their lives and marriages are better for it!  But I've been neglecting mine.  Don't get me wrong--we have no marriage problems--but what marriage can't be made better in at least ONE area?  That area will be different for you than it is for me, but let's commit to tending to that which is ours to tend! And to put our priorities in their due position in our lives!


As I find my way around the blog world and figure out what my days are going to look like with this great new venture on my list, and as we continue on with my women's group for another month, I must keep my list in front of me, so that nothing slips out of its proper place in my heart, mind, or schedule. 


Your list of priorities should be ordered based on what will still be there if the rest were gone. 


If I stopped doing all the "other" things I do that are not as important to the Lord, I'd still have God, husband, children, home, and small groups.

If I stopped leading small groups, I'd still have God, my husband, my children, and my home on the list.

If I had no home to keep, I'd still have God, my husband, and my children.

When my children are grown and leave the nest, I'll still have God, and my husband to love and to serve.

And at the end of my life, it will be just me and God.


Time to get everyone and everything back in their proper alignment.  Let's go after that heart of wisdom as we order our days!


How do YOU order your days?  And if you get off track with your priorities, what do you do to correct it?  Tell me in the comments below! 





5 comments:

  1. Wonderfully written, totally true...thank you for this sobering reminder, I often get my priorities mixed up too.

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    1. Thanks for reading and for your comment, Ruth! It really is so easy to let one thing slide ahead of another. The important thing is to be on guard for that happening, and make any necessary changes when it does to get back on track! :)

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  2. "God is a God of order, not balance." I am going to be thinking long on this one. Honestly, I have never seen the two as opposing until today.

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    1. Welcome, MichelleReflects! Thanks for commenting! I learned this myself only a few years ago. It is so helpful to me to know that HE put things in order! Then I can put first things first, and everything else in place after that (after Him). :)

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  3. Well said. I am currently working on a book about how I went from surviving mom to thriving mom. For me I had put everyone else's needs above my own. I was all out of order. Here is a snipet from my book....
    "It is not selfish to love yourself, to take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority, it is necessary. Amy Hale

    I have to admit, this was one of the hardest lesson for me to learn, and is for so many women. I am a giver, I love to give and serve others. The trouble is that I had given so much without replenishing that my love bucket was empty. I had nothing else to give, yet I kept trying to give. I kept on scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for more to give. I kept on banging and scraping on the bottom of myself trying to find more to give. The thing was, I had made a hole in my bucket and in my ability to give, the hole got bigger and bigger until the entire bottom fell out. I was forced to stop and take care of me.
    I had to put me at the very top of the priority list which was very hard. But it was even harder to keep me at the top. So often we try to put ourselves near the top of the list, yet we find ourselves down at the bottom of the list time and time again. There were not enough hours in the day to do all that I wanted to do. Time for me was pushed off until well after midnight when all the kids and hubby were settled, but then I was too tired to think about me, maybe tomorrow I would find time for me. Who was I kidding? Finding time for me during the day was nearly impossible with three little ones running about the house. Even when I would lock myself in the bathroom for five minutes "alone time" there were little fingers pushing under the door reminding me that they were still there. I needed a new plan, I wrote some me time into the daily schedule."

    The scheduling of me time was really a disaster. I would feel like my time was better spent giving to others, yet my bucket was needing healing. It finally came together when I discovered that I needed to take time for myself as opposed to making time for me. I took time for me in little pieces here and there. I settled down and was beginning to have something more to give but it was fragile my bucket still had big holes in it. I turned to God for help.

    The whisperings came. My priorities were all out of order. I was at the top of the list and God was somewhere down at the bottom where I used to be. It was when I put God first and kept him at the top of the list that things started going well. He was able to heal me. Putting things in order and letting God's word heal me was a lifesaver. My love bucket is full. It is overflowing and I am better able to share God's love.

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Love hearing from you.