As a task oriented person, I have a running to do list. Things I would like to be able to cross off (or in my case erase off my whiteboard.) But every week it seems like I cross 2 off and add 4 new ones. It was that way at home, but here it seems even more so. I’m often wondering where the time goes, both work time and personal time.
Recently I was visiting with one of our church-planting missionaries who was out of “the bush” in the guesthouse and she asked what I had done that day. I said something about not getting much done, because I’d helped with jump rope twice that day (see slide show) and then there was market and then I took a walk with a friend. . . and she said well, you have to remember who does the measuring . . . |
| She explained, “When we were in the bush and a lot of non-translation things came up, BJ told his dad that he didn’t get much done today. So his dad said ‘‘Just remember who does the measuring’ So now we say that a lot. When our schedule doesn’t work out the way we had planned we have to ‘remember the One who does the measuring!’” And since then I’ve been trying to remember that. It brings a whole new perspective. Time is meant to be invested, and while there are lots of things I do need to be able to complete and take care of and make progress in, people are the ultimate investment. Any moment I spend encouraging someone, helping them get better (in the case of jump rope), listening to, praying for, or serving– that is time well spent, even if I can’t cross it off a to do list. Pray that I can remember in every day “Who does the measuring of time” and ask Him how I should spend it. Pray that He will multiply my time when necessary, so I can get done what he determines I need to. I was reading recently about how keeping the Sabbath required trust. The Israelites had to trust the Lord to provide what they needed to survive when they took a day of rest. I have a long way to go in trusting Him to provide the time I need to get everything He wants me to accomplish done. He knows every distraction, every opportunity, every delay, and yet He allowed it. Can I trust Him to provide just enough time to get what he wants me to do done, to accomplish His desires? |