In The Middle

This morning when I woke up I immediately began thinking about all the work I needed to get done this morning. It's going to be a busy day! And one of the thoughts I had was that maybe today I needed to skip my devotional and blogging time. I adequately scolded myself as I was reminded of the 5 or 6 times I've decided to take up exercising. It only takes missing one day to throw me off my rhythm. One day to throw the whole program out the window, and once I skip once, it's much easier to skip a second or third time.

Then I read Mark chapter 6, and the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. I can imagine that that was a very busy day for Jesus. He had been preaching and teaching with his disciples, and after a long day, they sought to get away for a while. That was not to be. The gathering crowds followed them, and ended up all sharing in the miracle of 2 loaves and 5 fish feeding 5000. As soon as everyone ate, Jesus made his getaway. Verse 46 says "Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray." Even Jesus needed to take a break and reconnect. He was an example for the busiest of person, that despite how busy and hectic your days become, you still always need to take that time out for God. Our job is to first manage our time with God, and then the rest of the time will be managed accordingly. And amazingly, we also may find that the hectic time runs much smoother.

If we want to make sure that our life is of maximum worth to ourselves, our family, and those around us, then we need to start by giving the maximum time possible to God. We need to make going to God daily a habit. In addition to that though, we also need to remember that sometimes we need to "go out into the hills ourselves". Right in the middle of our hectic day we can stop, take a break, and spend time talking with God. There are studies out now that a short nap of 15-20 minutes every day can help workplace productivity. Just imagine how recharged you can feel during a busy day if instead you spent 15-20 minutes talking with your Heavenly Father. By getting the priorities right, the rest of the hustle and bustle will work itself out.

After Jesus spent his alone time with God, he went and proceeded to calm a storm and walk on water! Now that's a recharge! Let's use him as our example over the next few busy days- and remember to take that time out. We will be a whole lot better because of it.