Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29–30, ESV)
We are looking at 7 reasons we feel empty. Yesterday, we discussed having an unclear purpose. Today we look at having an unbalanced schedule.
Have you been busy? I probably don’t need to ask that question. You will almost assuredly say yes. This is especially true where I live in New Jersey. But it is true everywhere. There are varying degrees of busy, but for the most part, we are all busy.
We wear busy as a badge of honor. If we are not busy, we might think that there is something wrong with us. We are told to be productive. We are told to achieve. And the way to get that done is to stay busy! For many of us, we find our value in what we can accomplish.
But what we end up with is clutter. It is not the clutter of physical items, but the clutter in our schedules that leads to clutter in our minds and hearts. Clutter creates anxiety.
The problem is that we don’t clutter our schedules with bad things. They are good things. The clutter creeps in. We often don’t recognize it. We add these things to our lives for a greater sense of contentment, but we end up with our schedules controlling us rather than us controlling our schedules.
You don’t need to do it all. You don’t need to have it all. We already have all things in Jesus. We might think that following Jesus is about doing one more thing. But more often following Jesus is about doing fewer things so that he can do more.
Reflection
- What clutter can you remove from your schedule?
- How do you give your overloaded commitments over to Jesus?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the burdens I have put upon myself. I strive to do more and more. It is often more than you ever intended for me to do. Give me the courage to say no to where I need to say no so that I can say yes to the best things you have prepared for me. Amen.
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