Before All the Rest

For each of of the next 21 days, I will be sharing specific ways believers can set themselves apart for Christ through prayer, fasting, and intentional focus. Today is day 3 of "Setting Ourselves Apart IN..." Day 1 was in work, day 2 was in words, and day 3 was in relationships. Today begins "Setting Ourselves Apart Despite...", and it's a doozy - despite a lack of time.

This week, my calendar and my to-do list have combined forces and renamed themselves "Can We Break Her."

They're pretty close.

zazzle.com

Honestly, I can only remember one other season of my life where I felt this much pressure. I don't know why, but there are a zillion things I must do and far fewer than a zillion minutes in which to do them. And I'm not talking about getting my nails painted or a new novel read. I'm talking about things that really matter. Things that must be done or else.

Last night I did 4.5 hours of work after work. It's not a complaint, just a fact. I am overwhelmed and under-resourced. And I'm confident I'm not the only one who feels this way, bearing a load that seems unbearable.

Our time is spoken for, and often we're not the ones speaking for it. When that's the case, what do we do? We speak to the Time-Maker. We relinquish our schedules and lists and back-breaking burdens to the only One capable of making it all work.

The truth is that unless we make time for God before all the rest AND in all the rest, then the rest will consume and debilitate us. He might not take the to-do's away, and you might not get that nap, but He will give you rest. He says to His children, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). In the rest of what you have to do, He will be your rest. He says that his yoke is easy and his burden light. Don't we all want - and desperately need - that?

Today, in it all, invite Him in. Ask Him to be your portion, because He will never run out.

Today's Prayer: "Jesus, we are tired. Our lists keep growing, and our time keeps ticking, and we just don't know what to do. Show us what matters, help us subtract the unimportant, and remind us that in it all You will provide what we need. We seek Your face before the rest, and we ask you to give us rest."