Being Governed By Pressures Or Priorities
I remember reading somewhere about how a business man replaced the standard In-Out basket trays that prioritized his work with a five-tiered set of trays labeled Critical, Urgent, Important, Back-burner, Long-term. Those trays reminded me that unless I have God's perspective each day, pressures will always determine my priorities.
The story in John 11:1-7 reminds us of how radically different God's sense of urgency is from our own. Notice the chain of events: Lazarus was sick. His two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word of his illness to Jesus. Then we see two seemingly incompatible statements: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.” (vs. 5-6) A dying man, a delaying Lord but Jesus' priorities were determined not by pressure but by a relationship with His heavenly Father.
We are quick to say, “But I'm not Jesus. My life is crazy and I don't have enough hours in the day.” However, Jesus reminds us to make time for the truly important things of life.
Just for fun take a moment and answer this three-part question: What is the single most significant thing you could begin doing regularly that would: (1) make you more effective at your work? (2) create a better atmosphere at home? (3) strengthen your spiritual life? Now that you have named three specific things that would make your life better, can you defend or give a reason (not an excuse) for your choice to omit any one of them from your schedule?
The reason that I mention this is because we are entering a very busy time of the year. I heard someone just last week describe this season as “crazy & hectic where people drive us nuts.” On a daily basis we all have urgent things that will have to be attended to: phone calls, appointments, deadlines, commitments, etc. And now we’ll have numerous seasonal commitments and obligations. But what of those things that are important and truly matter?
The difference in people who tend to life's really important things and those who simply react to events and live according to the scripts others write and the pressures they place on them is called determining priorities.
It is so easy to fall into the activity trap and we think that being busy is being productive. We equate having done huge amounts of unimportant things with having done something significant. Moving quickly and efficiently is important only if your movement is in the direction of a worthy goal. Since you took the time to name specific steps toward noble ends, why not take the time to figure out how to include them in your schedule? You may have to cut out some waste and cancel some unimportant things, but you will feel better for it.