The Delicious Scent of Time Wasting

I bent my head forward and the breath that escaped my mouth came out as a deep sigh. I asked heaven what it was that I was good at- what it is that I do well. I answered myself before heaven even had the chance to voice an opinion.

Wasting time.

I had too many things to do in the day and I did not manage my time well enough to do all of them. Who of us can make such a lofty claim that we aren’t time wasters? Wasting time is a beloved pastime, a perfected skill to most. But the truth is that wasting time does not propel us forward but keeps us back squatting in the same old pit.

The only way we can possibly move forward to fulfill our God-given dreams is to eventually pause the dreaming and actually work. And know that the work is never ending but continually morphing into more work… and greater God-given dreams. We need to recognize the triggers in our daily lives that cause us to crave the delicious scent of time wasting. And it is of great importance that we seek wise counsel to determine whether or not our efforts are causing us to work smart or just waste precious time.

Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,

In the book of Exodus we come across a little story of Moses receiving a visit from his father-in-law Jethro with Moses’ wife and two sons. Upon Jethro’s presence, Moses bent down to greet his father-in-law with a kiss welcoming him into his tent which was his place of refuge from the people. Over conversation by a warm fire, Moses shared of all the great things The Lord had done for His people and Jethro was beyond joyful to hear such great news. There was a respect between the two men and a deep rooted reverence for a very big God.

It was the second day of Jethro’s visit when he witnessed Moses at work as judge and jury for the people. All day long the Israelites would come to Moses to lord over their disputes and referee their arguments. Moses was to make decisions, deal with quarries, and manage the people. This was one job far too big for one man and Jethro knew it. He called Moses’ business practice into question revealing to Moses the error in his good hearted ways: Moses wasn’t working smart but wasting precious time on the little things.

Now is the time for us to step back and evaluate how we actually work while seeking wise counsel on how to best use these precious moments of ours. We each have a community of people that surround us who have the ability to hold a perspective greater than our own. In the words of author Lysa Terkeurst, we don’t want to be the smartest one at the table. Let’s allow those who are standing with us- those who are cheering us on- to be a wise voice of reason within our dream.

Father, help me to know when I am allowing precious moments to slip me by unnoticed. I do not desire to waste my time on things that do not matter. As I press on toward to my goal, light the way by showing me how to work smart for my God-given dream. In Jesus name, amen.

 

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