Not Just Spinning My Wheel

I saw a quote of Martin Luther’s this weekend on the back of a t-shirt that I loved. It said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

Do you ever have days like that? Do you ever have days when your to-do list seems impossible to complete and overwhelming just to think about?

Do you ever have days when you speed through the day trying to accomplish all there is to do, and when nighttime falls, you wonder exactly what all you did that day?

As a single mother, my plate is often overflowing with things I need to get done. There is laundry, homework, housework, bills that need to be paid, and somewhere in there, I have to work.

I am not complaining at all as I know others that have much more to do than I. But sometimes, the days can just run together, and I end up feeling like I have been running on a hamster wheel…expending lots of energy, but getting nowhere.

There is a distinct difference in the quality of my days when I spend my first waking moments with God reading His word and praying. I am able to slow down and live through the moments of my day with ease and enjoyment rather than hurried and flustered.

On the mornings that I sleep too late and have to rush to get my kid to school and myself to work, I feel like I am missing something all day...like I just can’t seem to get it together. 

I have come to know that I need that time in the morning when it is just God and I…when there is no one else around to distract me. I become centered on His will and am filled with a peace in what can otherwise seem like a crazy day.

I don’t want to look back one day and think, “What was I so busy doing that I didn’t take time to just enjoy life?”

I believe God is about the small details of our lives, as well as the big life-changing details. God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives.

When my morning time is spent concentrating on a relationship with God, my day becomes less about to-do lists and frantic chaos. I can fully trust that God and I can handle whatever comes my way.

             The Bible says in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The peaceful hand of the one who created us can calm our anxieties and worries.

Our time is short here, and not a moment is guaranteed. I want to make the most of it enjoying the people I love  and learning to seize every moment rather than drowning in the chaos that keeps God at a distance and me in a state of worry.

             This week, I pray you will pencil in on your to-do lists some quiet time with God, so that He can fill you with the peace that transcends all understanding.