Why Making Time Is Making A Difference

Everyone hates excuses, but the one I hate the most is "I'm just so busy."

And I write this because I am the worst about throwing around this phrase, when I really mean to say "My priorities and time management skills are out of line."

We all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. Taylor Swift has 24 hours in a day. The President has 24 hours in a day. Jesus had 24 hours in a day.

And although I don't have those peoples' personal planners sitting in my lap right now, I'm betting they have more on their to-do list than I do; and somehow life is working for them.

When someone tells me they are busy, I already know that. My assumption is that time is of the highest value to everyone. My assumption is that you aren't just laying on your couch every day... you either have a job, school, clubs, events, most of the time: all of the above.

And this is normal. If someone were not doing one or more of these things, we would say that person is lazy or doesn't have their life together. This is the way it is in an American culture as fast-paced as ours.

But I think something we can do that will begin to transform our society a bit is to stop the glorification of "busy."

The people I'm most impressed by are not those who fill up their schedule to capacity to prove how successful and popular they are. I am impressed by those who don't have time, but somehow they make time.

I want to be one of those people.

As a Believer and someone whose purpose is to make others feel loved and valued, time is one of those things that I feel is essential to achieving that purpose. When you give someone your time, it says they are worth more than some other activity that you could be doing. It says they are important. It says that you see them. And sometimes that's all someone really needs... to be seen and heard.

But of course, time is something that no one ever has enough of. Which is why it's such a special gift.

And also why it must be protected, prioritized, and planned.

If we are honest-to-God as busy as we claim to be, prioritizing and time management are skills absolutely necessary to a healthy lifestyle when slowing down is not an option in the present season. I say it's a skill because it takes practice and development and self-discipline.

We must decide what on our to-do list is most important and in what order.

Time with Jesus is above all else. Nothing can fall into place without this first.

Then comes the harder decisions. There are unavoidable things like work and school. But what about your relationships in your life that are just as essential to your well-being as working to get money for survival? What about sleep and time for self to unwind and recharge?

Unfortunately, this blog post was not written to give you a clear cookie-cutter answer. There are none.  But what I can share is this...

Time and busy-ness are things that we can bring to the Lord in prayer. In praying about what is most important in my life, the Lord has given me discernment and direction so that I make time. A week when I need to place my schoolwork over my job, He makes up in finances. When I need to be there for a friend late into the night, He makes up in restful sleep.

He makes up and makes it work, because He is for us. He is a Provider, and He is always on our side. 

He is always on time. He always makes time. And if I want to mirror the life of Jesus to others, I want to be someone who manages time well so that I can make time for people too.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is that He doesn't just do all the work, but lets us be a part of the story too. He chooses to partner with us, and so sometimes that means sacrifice. It means staying up late or waking up early. It means putting my phone down when I say that I really am studying. Sometimes it means saying no so that my capacity for yes expands for the future. It means wisdom.

It means I refuse to use the excuse of busy-ness. The truth is that we'll never be too busy for the things that matter to us. I will never be too busy for God, and I will never be too busy for people.

And I believe we will become difference-makers in a busy world spinning itself into chaos when we first become makers of time.