So often people tell me, if I just had more time to commit...
If I had more hours in the day...
If I didn't have this other job...
Sad reality is that it typically goes like this:
The first priority and goal we tend to drop: Our spiritual wellness.
We don't have enough time to grow closer to the Lord. To read His word.
To pray. To serve Him.
Second, we let our bodies go. If we don't have time to read, we definitely
don't have time to sweat for 30 minutes at the gym! We don't have time to
plan out our meals, or eat healthy. Drive thru will have to work!
Third, we start letting our family time suffer. Fourth, our relaxing time.
Fifth, our jobs begin suffering... so on and so forth the list goes on...
Your list may go differently than mine. But when I get busy, this is
typically the route at which I begin to spiral downward. And when I
do I spin out of control. Maybe you do too. So I just want to share with
you what God is currently teaching me and see if it can help you out!
4 months ago my wife and I took a leap of faith to follow the Lord's call
in our life and move to Nashville(Franklin), TN. We moved from Northeast
Georgia where I had just completed an almost 4 year stint working on staff
at an amazing church as a Worship Pastor, then Campus Pastor, then a combination
of both. 6 months ago if you would have asked me, I would have told you I was
busier than I could handle. Ministry is a lot of weight on someone's shoulders
and has demands that anyone who is outside of ministry would not understand.
(You mean you work more than one day a week?) Duh, I worked 2 days a week.
Yeah right, the pressure of the people, the burdens of the people, the constant vision from
the Lord and doing everything you can along with the Lord to help people catch
that vision and run with it. Being available at almost all hours of the day for people's
needs, helping them resolve their issues, on and on... It's way more than a full time job,
and very difficult to turn off at home. Ministry is not a 9-5 job, it's 24-7 - 365 days a year.
If you are reading this, I encourage to take a few minutes and pray for your pastors!
They do way more than you realize to serve your church and your community!
Today, I am more busy than I was then. Just a glimpse of what my world looks
like right now.
- I am currently working two jobs everyday, Leave one, go straight to the next without a lunch hour
- I am getting other work playing or leading worship at churches in town
- I am in the process of recording a Worship EP (Which requires a lot of time and attention because there is a quick deadline involved)
- I am serving at my church 2 days a week. At two different locations. Including speaking
which requires prep time at home.
- I am finally chasing after my health, committing to an hour workout everyday
- Eating healthier which means more time and money spent between me and my wife
planning what we need to eat
- Digging into God's Word everyday
- Committing to a couple of hours of downtime with my wife every night
- About to spend sometime traveling this summer leading worship at camps for income
- And fitting in extra things that come along the way
How do I juggle all of this? Planning. Period.
Check this out, a principle I kept at the top of my mind when working in ministry was
this. 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand..." I always knew that the ministry pressure couldn't keep me from accomplishing the goals the Lord had given me for the church, and so I reached a ton of my goals and the visions the Lord laid out for my ministry. However, I did not take the same approach at home or in my personal life - especially with my physical health.
He will not allow more than we can stand.
Look at it this way. The enemy will use YOUR busy schedule as a temptation to make you believe that you have more than you can handle! BUT - My God's faithfulness says NO! It is not more than you can handle.
I let this temptation hold me back in a few areas of my life when I was serving in ministry. And what God has been teaching me now is this - He is faithful and will not give me more than I can handle!
If I want to be healthy, I have the same amount of time in a day as anyone else! If he blesses me with jobs and opportunities, than His faithfulness says that I can handle them! If he calls me to make my wife a priority, then He gives me the opportunity to walk that out in my life! If He calls me to spend time with Him and grow with Jesus, than I have the same opportunity anyone else does to do that!
But how?
Sit down and PLAN!
Here is what happens when we don't plan: We do a lot of work, and get nowhere. We spend so much time at work focusing on things there, then when we arrive at home, we do a lot of "vegging out" - which really turns into "where did the time go" and we waste away our opportunities.
Is it cool to relax everyday? ABSOLUTELY - we are supposed to rest, God's word talks about that too. And I'll write about that later. But if we plan it, we are able to get the rest we need and accomplish our goals.
In 16 weeks of committing to this, I am currently growing closer to the Lord than I ever have. My marriage is healthier than it has ever been. I am physically healthier than I've ever been. My wife and I are financially healthier than we've ever been(that article will come too), and I am accomplishing so many goals. Oh and in case I didn't mention sleep. I am consistently getting 8 hours a night! I plan my bedtime too! And stick with it!
God is going to give me another opportunity in full time ministry in the future. But I believe one of the most important pieces to my wife and I following God on this journey has been for him to teach us about and grow our personal lives, in order to expand our ability to lead that much more!
You have time, plan, and knock it out! Your goals are totally reachable!
If I can pray for you or encourage you in any way shoot me an email:
k9robison@gmail.com
In Christ,
Kevin
