Corrie Ten Boom was a holocaust survivor Christian she said the devil cannot make us bad he will make
us busy there's an old acronym or acrostic that goes busy is standing for being under satan's
yoke that if he can make you busy he'll take your eyes off of where life is found he'll get you
going through constantly just going through the motions and the treadmill of life never actually
going anywhere that matters but you'll be busy there is no shortage of stuff to keep us busy
there are regular demands on our time that can sometimes make life crushing and consequently a
lot of things suffer in our lives because we are so busy marriages suffer your health can suffer
relationships with children can suffer relationships with friends
and most importantly your relationship with Christ because when we're too busy that all
those things get squeezed out to whatever left over time we have which isn't much
if satan can't make you bad he'll make you busy when we think about how Jesus said that the enemy
came to steal kill and destroy you might wonder kill in what way destroy in what way steal in
what way one of the ways he'll work on you is to steal your time to cause you to become so busy
that you lose sight of the more important things he loves to get us off track
he loves to cause things to suffer in our lives simply because we're not disciplined with our time
it was Corrie Ten Boom who said if the devil can't make us bad he'll just make us busy
here we live in this life which is everything's a thousand miles an hour there's texts coming in and
there's things we got to read and places we got to go and stuff we got just busy just busy just
busy and we've accepted that this is just how it has to be but God says no there's something you
can choose to do and you can choose to stop and and and I would say if you're like me the things
you're busy doing are good things they're not bad things it's not like you're out foolishly
using your time you're probably busy with children and work and school and being married
and business you know the job that you have is probably consuming you like it is for most of us
I believe most of our problems not all of them but most of our problems
are either caused or made worse because we're moving too fast for too long
every single one of us has been given the same 24-hour time period every single day by God
the question is how are you going to use those 24 hours that God has given you
the deal is we need to be asking God what he wants us to do with the time he has given
us think of time like every precious thing God has given you because it is it's a gift
the time that we have is a gift from God and we don't know how much time that we have he does
and so we need to be good stewards or managers of the time that God has entrusted to us
and so maybe it needs to start with us learning how to say no to some demands of our time
and you got to come to the place where you say I don't live for everyone else's approval
because if I do I'm fighting a battle I'll never win I live for God's approval
and so at the end of the day I'm going to stand before him and say I've tried to be faithful
and handle and do everything I can but if I live for a life that doesn't ever disappoint someone
it's never going to happen and the key is this we put God first in our lives
you know God every day I want you to be first in my life it creates capacity for
all of the other stuff priority determines capacity so where is your priority today
my prayer for us is that today would be a moment for us to realign our priorities
say God I want to put you first it's all important but God you're first in my life but here's the
problem if your time with God is hit and miss if your time with God is not a priority you will miss
much of what God wants to do in your life when I have my devotions when you have your devotions
you are focusing on matters that matter you're focusing on the most important things
listen to me very closely there is one reason you're here
and all these different messages are going to bombard you every single day about what you
need to get done what you haven't got done what more you need to do there is one thing that will
actually bring you life and the one thing behind why you have life and that's to know Jesus and to
walk with Jesus and he brilliantly says there's only one thing that at the end of the day matters
it's not business it's not marriage it's me and you and every other person knowing me
friend you want joy you want contentment it's a byproduct of getting close to Jesus
when Jesus is our top priority when he's first and when he's foremost everything else in my
world finds Its proper placement it finds its proper alignment and it's there in that place
when Jesus is first when I'm near to him that I realize my joy is not anchored in stuff it's
anchored in knowing and getting closer to the person of Jesus it's in practicing his
presence the Bible tells us in the Book of Psalms that in his presence there's a fullness of joy
spend time with him every day talk to him listen to his voice develop a friendship
with him express your love for him receive his love for you don't let your relationship become
stale or routine or stagnant stay connected to the vine in John 15 Jesus said I'm the vine
and you're the branches remain in me abide in me stay in a constant intimate relationship with me
the more time I spend with him in prayer and bible study the better my day goes
and most of us can testify to the fact that if you don't order your day with with seeking the
Lord your day ends up being much more chaotic you're more frazzled at the end of the day you
got a headache you're stressed and all these things that you couldn't anticipate ended up
happening and I've just noticed over the years that the more I'm careful to start my day with
prayer and the Bible the better off my day goes and I've personally noticed and I share this
with you if this helps you but it's helped me over the years I've noticed that Proverbs in
the morning gives me wisdom for the day and Psalms at night helps to put my mind at rest
when I meet with God here's what I'm saying I'm saying God I absolutely have to have your help
to make it through the day when you don't have your prayer time essentially what
you're saying is you're saying I got it God I don't need your help today
I can get along just fine I can do not and and that's the height of pride
what's the Bible say God resists the proud he holds his head you know so when you say
because I don't need to pray God's like okay you got it go ahead see see what you can do
but when I pray when you pray when we have our devotional time what we're saying is God I'm
not smart enough I'm not strong enough I'm not creative enough I'm not winsome enough I'm not
connected enough God I'm not enough of anything to make it through the day I've got to have your
help and when you start the day that way God says I am so glad you asked I'm gonna help you in the
things you've mentioned and the things you never thought about I'm gonna go before you I'm going
to be behind you I'm going to be beside you I'm going to anoint you why because he gives grace
to the humble he gives grace to the person who needs him and realizes it by reaching out to him
now when people say for example you know I I would read the Bible but you know I'm just so
busy I don't have time or I know I should spend more time in prayer but I just don't have time
I don't have time I don't have time I don't have time think about what you say you're saying to
the God of this universe the creator you're saying to the sovereign of this universe our sustainer
you saying to this God who is our judge you don't have time for him
who is the source of every single thing you have who desires
an intimate relationship with him it takes time the most powerful awesome thing in my life today
second to nothing is getting on my face before him and talking to him and listening and sensing
his spirit and my spirit being in oneness with each other and knowing that no matter what I ask
I'm not going to be disappointed no matter what I ask he's not going to get upset
no matter what I ask God is more than sufficient and adequate to meet this hunger within me that
he's placed there he has placed within all of our hearts a hunger the problem is that when a
person doesn't understand what's going on they think if I had this and her and him and that
I'd be satisfied only God can satisfy the human life and you know I could say that ten thousand
times and people would hear it and walk right away trying to fulfill this place for intimacy
with something else it doesn't work and Jesus says there's one thing in life that matters
and you're either going to spend your life missing it
or spend your life experiencing it and that's knowing me and walking in relationship with me