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Review

Over the past few weeks we’ve been talking about the wise and godly use of all the good gifts that God has given us in our lives, which usually, in the Christian church, is called “stewardship”.

The jumping off point of our study was 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 where the Apostle Paul gave final instructions to gather up a collection to help out the needy Christians in Jerusalem. They had asked how they could help and Paul said,

“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”

On the first week of our study we talked about some of the ways that the Christian church has gotten a bad reputation for how we see, use and ask for money, explained the historical background of this passage and why churches gather weekly collections. A big part of that was understanding that our collection helps believers practice a lifestyle habit of generosity – of holding our wealth and possessions loosely and allowing God to dictate how they are to be used. The big question was to ask ourselves if we really understand God’s love for us and if that understanding is reflected in our generosity toward others.

This led to last week’s conversation about Stewardship where we expanded the definition to encompass not only our wealth and possessions but our entire lives – our time, talents, treasure and testimony. We asked some important questions last week and were challenge to clarify in our own hearts how we perceive ourselves, our stuff, and the world. I said the first question of Stewardship is, “Whose is it?”. When we look at the time we have been given in a day, the abilities and skills we possess, the wealth we have, and all the things that have happened to us that have created the story of our lives, we must ask ourselves, “Whose is it?” or “Whose am I?”. If the real answer is “It is God’s, I am God’s”, then that changes everything about how we use it.

The second question from last week was, “What am I supposed to do with it?” If we acknowledge that whatever we have is God’s, then the next, logical question is, “What does He want me to do with it?” That led to a study of the Parable of the Talents where we answered this question in the most basic way: God wants us to do “something” with it. The big lesson of the Parable of the Talents was that, for various reasons, the third steward did nothing and was therefore condemned.

We talked about how our perception of ourselves and our stuff is directly connected to how we see God. If we believe He is generous, then we will be generous. If we believe He is stingy, then we will be stingy. If we believe He will provide for us, then we will provide for others. If we believe God holds out on us, then we will hold out on others.

How Can I Use it Best

So, if you’re with me so far, and can agree with this statement, then we can move forward to the next question:

“Everything is God’s and I am a steward of His resources. I will use what He has given me, as best I can, His way, despite the risks involved.”  Can you agree to that?

If so, we move on to the third question: “How can I use it best?” Whatever “it” is… the time we have in a day, the money in our pocket, the car we drive, the stuff on our shelves, the skills and abilities we have, or the story of our lives, the question isn’t just, “Will I use it for God’s glory and humanity’s good?”, but “How can I use it best for God’s glory and humanity’s good?”

So over the next bit, I want to go through these four gifts and get practical about how to use them best.

Stewardship of Time

First, let’s talk about how to steward our Time best.

I’ve been using The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis over the past little bit and it has been absolutely chopping me in half. It was written sometime in the 1400s but it reads like it could have been written today. Other than the Bible this may be the most published book of all time with thousands of editions over the past 500+ years.

The first section talks a lot about how we are to steward our thought life, which actually has a lot to do with how we steward our time, and is certainly something I’ve been struggling with lately. Most of you know that our family has been going through some difficulties over the past while and for me, when I get overwhelmed with it all, it’s very tempting to shut down my thoughts and shut out the world by distracting myself with Netflix or YouTube or the internet. I know it’s not healthy, but until recently I don’t think I realized how dangerous it is.

Thomas a Kempis says this,

“What good is much discussion of involved and obscure matters when our ignorance of them will not be held against us on Judgment day? Neglect of things which are profitable and necessary and undue concern with those which are irrelevant and harmful, are great folly.”

That hit me like a wall and I’ve been chewing on it for a while, but then, just this past week, I read this…

“How can a man who meddles in affairs not his own, who seeks strange distractions, and who is little or seldom inwardly recollected, live long in peace?…. We are too occupied with our own whims and fancies, too taken up with passing things. Rarely do we completely conquer even one vice. And we are not inflamed with the desire to improve ourselves day by day; hence, we remain cold and indifferent. If we mortified our bodies perfectly and allowed no distractions to enter our minds, we could appreciate divine things and experience something of heavenly contemplation.

The greatest obstacle, indeed, the only obstacle, is that we are not free from passions and lusts, that we do not try to follow the perfect way of the saints. Thus, when we encounter some slight difficulty, we are too easily dejected and turn to human consolations. If we tried, however, to stand as brave men in battle, the help of the Lord from heaven would surely sustain us…. Let us, then, lay the axe to the root that we may be freed from our passions and thus have peace of mind…. If you do not overcome small, trifling things, how will you overcome the more difficult? Resist temptations in the beginning, and unlearn the evil habit lest perhaps, little by little, it lead to a more evil one.

If you buy consider what peace a good life will bring to yourself and what joy it will give to others, I think you will be more concerned about your spiritual progress.”

My spirit drank that in like a withered plant takes in water after a drought. How much time have I spent on things which were neither profitable nor necessary, seeking “strange distractions” in things that are irrelevant and even harmful? It’s no wonder I don’t have peace and joy in my heart and it’s wrong to blame others and circumstances for making me feel so miserable. This says, “Where did you turn when difficulties arise? Human consolations? Then is it any wonder you have no divine peace?” The challenge is to lay the axe to the root of the problem and finally be freed from all the garbage distractions I keep going to so I may finally have that heavenly sustenance.

And a lot of that is about wise time management. That requires making different choices with ow I use my time, right? So, how can we build the habit of using our time well?

Wasted and Anxious

Maybe you resonate with what I’ve been saying about wasting time, or perhaps you are one of those people that is worried that you haven’t done enough with your life, that you need to do more, that there is so much to accomplish, are always rushed, always busy, and forever feel like you are falling behind. The invisible list you keep in your mind of where you should be and what you should have done by now bring you nothing but guilt and shame and fear. You compare yourselves with others, with people your age, or with the aspirations you had when you were younger, and you feel guilty. Or perhaps you are younger and you’re looking at the future and it’s coming up fast – and you need to make decisions about school, career, marriage, where you’ll live, what you’ll do. Time seems like an enemy to you.

You think you should be making more money and have a better career by now Or you should have your life planned out by now. You should have your house paid off by now. You should have written that book by now – or at least read that book by now. You promised yourself that you would have achieved a certain dream a long time ago, but there’s never enough time. Or merely on a daily basis – you simply always feel behind, always feel lost, like you’re never in the right place, and whatever energy you expend is never enough to catch up.

And maybe you even impose this anxiety on others. You’re always rushing people, even when there’s no reason to rush. Every time you leave the house there’s a competition to see who can get out first and fastest so they don’t have to face your wrath. You buy groceries and stand there for a few moments worrying you’ll pick the wrong line and lose precious seconds of your day. You yell at anyone who is late, constantly tap your foot or pace when you are stuck somewhere, and there always seems to be too much traffic no matter where you go. Anyone resonate with this?

Whether you struggle with wasting time or with the fear of time, let me tell you that what’s at the root of the problem isn’t first a calendar issue but a gospel issue. What is the solution? We must first turn to God and His Word.

All Time is God’s Time

The first thing is to realize is that all time is God’s time. This goes back to our first question, “Whose is it?” Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Humanity has a concept of time and eternity, and most people seem to inherently live with a constant sense of urgency. Even atheists inherently know that their life is not lived in a temporal vacuum but live as though this present experience is not all there is. They may deny an afterlife, but the way they live shows that they want their lives to not only matter, but have lasting effect. They have “eternity in their hearts”. Unless you are utterly depressed or suicidal, almost everyone lives as though what they do has some sort of significance. Whether they are a stoner who sits around eating chips or an ultra-driven Fortune 500 CEO, if you ask them, they will give you some reason for what they are doing.

But, a Christian who believes that all time is God’s time, our reason for what we do is very different. We are not drive by fear or sloth. We know that God knows everything that has and will happen, that He has a plan from the beginning and the end, and that He has invited us to work within His plan and do things of eternal value. Therefore, we don’t see time as a trap, or that there’s not enough, or that it’s something to waste, but as a gracious gift from a loving God. One more good thing God has given us in order to accomplish His will for our lives.

And, not only is our time is a God-given gift and therefore good, but God Himself is good, gracious and forgiving. So when He sees we have wasted a day, or when we feel like we’ve fallen behind, or we’re anxious and harried, we can know that our Heavenly Father isn’t like your stressed out mom or dad – tapping His foot, checking His watch, rolling His eyes, grumbling and sighing, and saying, “When will you get going? Why haven’t you done more?! I’m running out of time! You’re ruining my plans!” He’s really not.

Why? Because neither you nor I are powerful enough to effect God’s plans.  He will accomplish what He wills with or without us. What’s amazing is that He invites us to accomplish it with Him and then shares the reward with us. But He never feels like we’ve fallen behind, because He’s never behind!

Think of you asking a toddler to help you do a project. You need dinner buns baked by supper or need to change the oil in the car. Whether the toddler helps or not, the buns will be made and the oil changed, right? Our joy is inviting our child to do it with us – even though they do very little or nothing at all. Are we mad when they don’t roll their little bit of dough fast enough? Are we mad when they are standing next to us holding a tool? No. Why? Because we know it’ll get done because we’re in charge of the project. We’re in charge of the time. We know what we’re doing. We’re just glad they’re there. God’s relationship with us is a perfected version of that.

Yes, God holds us accountable for how we use our time, we see that throughout scripture, but sinning in our use of time is no worse than any other sin. God still forgives, still wipes the slate clean, still restores us, and still, as Ephesians 3:20 says, “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

As I said, neither you nor I is powerful enough to hurt God’s plans, and He loves us so much that at any moment He’s willing to get us back on track. Our sins in our use of time – whether wasting it through doing nothing or doing too much — is also covered under by blood of Christ. He will forgive and restore us if we ask for it.

All time is God’s time and He can grow it and stretch it, or shrink it and stop it whenever and however He wants. Once you’ve settled that in our heart it will go a long way to decreasing your guilt, anxiety and fear.

Track Your Time

Which leads us to the most practical thing you can do in order to use your time best. There are thousands of different methods, but the most important thing you can do is simply to keep track of your time, and I want to talk about that for a minute.

Once you have realized that God is not a harsh, clock-watching, foot-tapping taskmaster, and you have committed to simply living every day His way, the most important, practical thing you can do is to track how you use your time.

• The Bible often speaks of things happening at the “right time”, or the “appointed time” (Exodus 13:10; Psalm 75:2; John 7:6-8; Romans 5:6; 8:22; 1 Corinthians 4:5) and the tracking of time is all over the Bible.
• Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
• Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
• Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
• Jesus says in John 9:4, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”
• The Parable of the Ten Virgins comes right before the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 and it’s all about how important it is to use our time on earth carefully.

The best way to do that is to keep track of what you are doing. Whether you use an online calendar or a paper daytimer, in order to be wise with your time you need to be writing down what you are doing. I use Google Calendar online and it syncs to my phone and my computer. My wife and I are even able to connect our calendars so we can see what the other one is doing. Tracking time allows you to block out how much time you’ll need – not just for the meeting or the event, but the car ride over and the hangout time after.

I’m not just talking about meetings and work though. Have you been wishing you can get in date night with your spouse and kids, wishing you could finally read that book, wishing you had more time to cook or clean or organize? Want to get a better job, find a school, finish your project, even watch a show you’ve been wanting to see? Block it in and then it’s there.

If you’re one of those people who are constantly letting others down because you are always late, this will help you. If you’re always tired, always frustrated, always on edge – tracking your time will help you get control of that. Block out time for sleep, time to eat, time to pray, time to go to church, time to play with your kids, time to visit your friends, time to nap and rest and exercise.

I’ve done this many times in my past, clocked everything down to 15 minute blocks, and it is amazing how the picture of your life shows up in your calendar. You are tired because you don’t sleep or eat. You are stressed because you don’t leave enough time to get places. You realize you haven’t connected to your family in forever and likely never will if you keep going this way. Tracking your time not only helps you fix your priorities but also lets you see how many hours you’ve wasted in your day. You don’t realize how many hours per week you spend online or whatever until you actually total it up. Tracking time is an awesome tool.

If you don’t track your time, it will get away from you, and you will be one of those people who cannot be trusted, let people down, are always feeling stressed out and guilty, and are forever wondering why you can’t get things done. Having no picture of your time makes you feel like you are always in in the wrong place. But you know what? The stress go way down when you block in what you want to do.

You can say, “It’s ok that I nap now, because I have my time under control. It’s ok to watch this show, because I’ve been planning this for a while. I don’t have to rush through this romantic date or board game or work project because I know that I’ve given myself enough time to do it.” Or even, “Sure I’d love to try that new thing. I’ve left some time for things like that.” The spiritual benefits of being consistently connected to God, because you have set aside time to be with Him are awesome too. Tracking time is amazingly freeing.

Two Final tips

Let me close with two final tips on this in order to get the most out of time management.

First, practice the phrase, “Nope, I can’t make it. I’ve already got something else planned then.” Here’s the trick: It doesn’t matter what that “something else” is and it’s none of their business. Maybe it’s work, but maybe it’s a nap. Maybe it’s your bible reading. Maybe it’s date night. Maybe it’s watching a TV show. Once you’ve mapped things out in your life, blocked out your priorities in advance, you’re going to find that a world of opportunities to ruin your schedule will open up to you – and some of you will feel very guilty in keeping your schedule. Suddenly a bunch of seemingly super-urgent, vitally important things will try to wreck your calendar. Someone will plan a meeting during a time you’ve set aside to be with your family, or someone will start something early in the morning that you kind of want to go to.

Normally, you’d tell your family to take the back seat, or give up your sleep or devotional time, or try to accelerate everything in order to please everyone – don’t. It’s not worth it. You’ll just let people down, stress yourself out, and feel guilty about being in the wrong place. If you’ve prayed about this schedule, agreed on it with your family, and have set your priorities straight, there’s no reason to feel guilty when you say “Nope, I can’t make it. I’ve already got something else planned then.”

And my second tip is this: If you find yourself overwhelmed in your planning, surrounded by chaos, stressed by the needs of the day, and utterly confused about what is going on: Do what an old mentor of mine once told me: “Just do the next, right thing.” First, remember that all time is God’s time and if you’ve gotten yourself in a pickle, He will forgive you. So ask forgiveness of God for stressing out and whatever you’ve done to contribute to this situation – and then forgive yourself – and then just “do the next, right thing”.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, “…do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Implicit is that statement is that the past is done and can’t be changed, only God knows the future, and you and I are only responsible for the present. That brings a lot of peace. So, when life comes rushing at you, smashes into you like a wave, and then sucks you into the undertow, stop for a moment and say, “What is the next, right thing?”

Maybe it’s to eat some food because you haven’t done all day. Maybe it’s to sit down and pray. Maybe it’s to clean the kitchen. Maybe it’s doing your homework. Maybe it’s calling your mom or accountability partner. Maybe it’s buying the milk you’ve needed since this morning. Maybe it’s simply fixing your schedule so this doesn’t happen again.

If the past is done and can’t be changed, God is in control of the future, and you are only responsible for the present, what is one, right thing you can do in this moment? Not the “most perfect thing”! Don’t get sucked into that trap. Just one, right thing. Start there and every time Satan says, “That’s not right. That’s not the best thing! That’s not good enough. Do something else! You’re letting everyone down!” Realize it’s your enemy who is trying to crush your spirit and stress you out, and that God loves you no matter what you have done or are currently doing – and so does your family and so do your friends and so does your church. We don’t love you because of what you do and how perfectly you accomplish your lists – we love you for you. When you get overwhelmed, stop, give God that moment and say, “Lord, I’m just going to do this next, right thing and God, that’s all I can do right now.” And I promise it’s more than enough.

And then, when you’re done that next, right thing – do the next, right thing.

Don’t miss the current blessings that God has for you because you’re dwelling on the past or fanaticizing about the future.