Take Whatever You Want, Just Don’t Take My Time!!

Our American culture tends to communicate that the most precious commodity a person can have is money. Money offers a security that many people subconsciously fix as their god. It’s wrong, but it’s understandable. If you have money in today’s world, you can have every physical thing you need, and that makes people feel secure. At least for a good majority of life.

I have been realizing more and more that while having money does bring a level of security to my life and not having it brings some uncomfortable insecurity, I think there’s a commodity that I am even more protective of than money. My time.

I can handle giving money away here and there, spending a dollar too much on a grocery item and paying entirely too much per gallon at the gas pump, but try to take my time away from me and the claws come out.

Elisabeth Elliot has a book called “Keep a Quiet Heart” in which she often refers to the Christian’s misuse of their time. She relates it to her own life in several places where she says she’ll have been working on a book (she was once a full-time author of books and other christian resources) or even spending time with the Lord for the day and her two most sacred activities would be interrupted by a phone call or a visitor or a request by her husband. She says in the book on several occasions that while her first reaction to those interruptions was irritation and bother, she has come to realize that those interruptions were often God’s immediate answer to a prayer, what she had just been reading in the Word, or a point she was trying to make in the book. When she stepped back and looked at the situation, she could find that it was not an interruption at all, but a divine appointment that was meant to back up what she had been working on or meditating on at that very hour or day. After that realization dawned on her, she began to practice accepting all unexpected interruptions as divine appointments and it totally changed her perspective, her manner, and her ability to be flexible.

I am not a flexible person. I like order, structure, and planning. That lesson in Elisabeth Elliot’s book has stayed with me for years now since reading it. Another book that helped me realize what a time nazi I am is Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. Amazing book for leaders. Absolutely incomparable. There’s a short chapter in the book that is simply titled “The Leader and Time.” In the chapter the author cites several examples of how great people have become great because they were excellent time managers. He says “The way we employ the surplus hours after provision has been made for work, meals, and sleep will determine if we develop into mediocre or powerful people. Leisure is a glorious opportunity and a subtle danger. Each moment of the day is a gift from God that deserves care, for by any measure, our time is short and the work is great.” He then goes to to say a leader will seldom say that they don’t have time. Leaders become leaders because they know how to manage their time. Have you ever wondered why it seems like the same people are always carrying the majority of the responsibility in church? It’s because those people know how to manage their time while others just say “I’m too busy.”

It’s easy to react to suggestions that we could be better time managers by saying “well, yeah, but God rested,” or “well, I don’t think we’re supposed to always work and never play.”

Absolutely, and that’s not what I’m suggesting. We don’t have trouble resting or playing. I certainly don’t. What most of us need is to recognize how undisciplined we are with our time. I think that the time we have been given is even more valuable to a Christian than money or any other resource. I have a hard time viewing the hours of the day as a gift that I am responsible for using wisely. I can absolutely relate to Elisabeth Elliot’s irritation at phone calls and unexpected visitors. I hope that I will continue to become more disciplined with how I use my time and not be a hypocritical blogger, ha.

Speaking of…it’s probably time I stop blogging and do some work…