Have you ever been so busy and tired that you wondered how you would survive?
I’m just getting out of one of those seasons. This season, though, was fun and fruitful — I had a blast and accomplished a lot. But it was too much.
In the matter of one month, I preached four times in three weeks, wrote and edited an eBook on prayer, traveled almost every weekend for events, worked a lot of overtime, built this website essentially from scratch (with a lot of help), ran multiple social media accounts, and tried to maintain my social life — and sanity. In short, I was very busy.
The Mistakes I Made
A lot got done, but I made some mistakes along the way. Here’s seven of them:
1) I didn’t get enough sleep. This effected everything. I felt dilliusional, despondent, discouraged. A lack of sleep will get you nowhere in a hurry. No wonder John Piper speaks so highly of sleep here.
2) I didn’t eat healthy or exercise regularly. The older I get, the more important this becomes. Our bodies are wired from God in a certain way, a way in which we must take care of them or suffer the consequences. By eating poorly and not exercising, I felt fatigued and depressed almost incessantly. You are, as they say, what you eat.
3) I didn’t tell anyone. A friend emailed me in the middle of this season and told me I had too much on my plate. He was right. It took someone asking before the confessing, but I should have been speaking up about my busyness from the beginning, and seeking wise counsel for help.
4) I had a hard time saying no. Don’t get me wrong, I did say no. But my problem was spending emotional energy after I said no. “Did I make the wrong decision?” “Will they judge me?” Instead of moving on after saying no, I wasted energy concerned about the transaction.
5) I worried too much about what people thought of me. This was particularly true online. How many retweets did I get? Will people like my blog? Will anyone share my Facebook status? This is silly. Worrying about what others think of you — especially people you don’t know — is a worthless endeavor.
[Tweet “”Worrying about what others think of you is a worthless endeavor.” – @DavidQaoud”]
6) I spent too much time on Social Media. Sometimes social media can be refreshing, a lot of times it can be draining. In my case, I spent too much time on it, causing me to compare my life with others (which led to pride or depression), and waste time spent that could have been used elsewhere.
7) I neglected Scripture for the sake of Christian literature. Sure, I was reading two-to-four hours a day, but it was mostly Calvin and Keller, and rarely Paul and Luke. I love reading more than the next guy, by nothing should replace the Bible. “To neglect the regular reading of the Word is detrimental to health of our souls,” Wayne Grudem says. I learned that the hard way.
[Tweet ““To neglect the regular reading of the Word is detrimental to our souls.” – Wayne Grudem”]
I’m happy to report that I’m doing much better. But it wasn’t after I made those mistakes, spread myself too thin, didn’t get enough sleep. It’s a learning process. And I hope when another busy befalls me, (Umm, like, next month, probably) I’ll be better equipped to handle it well.
I can’t say yes to everything. And neither can you. Try to learn from my mistakes and steward your time wisely as you live your busy, hectic life. And don’t get discouraged if you can’t fit everything into your schedule. After all, only God gets his “To-Do” list done everyday.
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1) 7 Things Christians Should Remember When Saying No
2) What God Really Wants From You
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