What Are You Supposed To Do?

There is a passage of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 5 that serves to help us think about using our time well for God's glory, being resourceful in the gift of time that He has given to us:15See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,16redeeming the time, because the days are evil.17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
God has given us 24 hours in every day - obviously there will be 7,8,9 hours to rest and recharge, and a couple of hours each day to feed our bodies.   Hopefully, there will be time set aside to feed our spirits, too, through prayer and Bible study.   And, we evaluate our time and the use of it by God's standards - if we're wasting time, knowing that God is prompting us to do something and yet we resist or occupy our time and efforts elsewhere, we may not have a sense of satisfaction in our lives and our walk with Him.   And, there may be tasks we enjoy doing, but recognize we don't need to do them.   So, we guard against distraction and devote ourselves to doing the will of God throughout our days.

In Psalm 90:12, we see a verse that can challenge us to manage our time well:
12So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Recently blogger and branding expert Robert D. Smith offered this tweet:

The task that you enjoy doing, but don’t need to do, is the most dangerous task known to man.

Smith was blogging about a recent conference in which he and his team would be teaching writers and speakers about some of the finer points of branding.   Then, as he was carefully organizing the details, the thought occurred to him: What kind of snacks were we going to have for everyone?  And not only what kind of snacks, but how would they be arranged? What dishes need to be used? What time does everything need to be set out? How much food do I need to get?

He remembered a piece of advice given to him dealing with only doing what you can do, and he delegated the task. He said, "Could I have run to the store and arranged everything myself? Absolutely. I’ve planned out wowing weekend-long events with multiple catered meals in the past, so this actually would have been fairly easy for me to do. I might have even enjoyed it a little, which is the dangerous part. After all, it’s easy to delegate the tasks that you hate doing. It’s much more difficult to give up the tasks that you don’t mind or enjoy doing!"

Robert D. says that, "Just because you enjoy doing something doesn’t always mean you should be doing it. Instead, you should focus on doing the things that only YOU can do. And there’s no better way to focus on those things than to make a list."  He actually relates that he did just that.

He concluded by posing some critical questions:

Now, what’s on YOUR list? What are the special tasks that require your specialized expertise? What can you delete off your list? Whom can you get to help handle the things that don’t require your personal touch? What enjoyable yet counterproductive tasks are holding you back right now?

Again, the most dangerous task is the one that you enjoy doing, but don't need to do.

You know, a couple of thoughts occurred to me:  I thought back on Clare De Graaf's conversation with me the other day about the "10 Second Rule", which goes like this:  "Just do the next thing you’re reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do.” (and do it immediately before you change your mind!)

But, I think, so often we end up doing things Jesus doesn't want us to do, or becoming engaged in activities that are not the Lord's best for us and do not reflect what He wants us to do in that given moment.   There may be something you enjoy doing, but it distracts you from God's purpose - and there may be some activity that you need to be involved in not just because you're good at it, but at the time, you may be the only person available that can do it.   Distraction is not our friend, and if we allow ourselves to wander off from the path the Lord has set for us, we may miss the opportunity to accomplish something really awesome for God.

And, Satan wants to get you off course.  We can be so involved in activities, even things we think are good and right, maybe even church work, than we are missing what God has really called and empowered us to do.   It's been said that if the enemy can't keep you idle, he'll try to get you off track by making you really busy.   So, we have to stop and think - what is the best and most productive use of my time and talents - now?