When You Find Yourself Too Busy

        The daily humdrum of life often clogs my brain, beginning the moment I open my eyes and only quieting down when I close them again at night. Through all the noise, it’s hard to focus on the things that are important, and I find myself not even wanting to focus. Bible reading loses its excitement; devotions and Bible studies become a dread. Prayer loses its priority, and I slog through ministry work like it’s a chore. It’s when I pause to reflect that I realize that somewhere along the line, I decided the earthly things around me were more urgent than the spiritual battle I was in the middle of. What a grave mistake.

        Focusing on the busy-ness of life is exactly where the enemy wants me to be—distracted. If I’m too occupied by my laundry list of chores, I’ll neglect my relationship with God. If I do that, I won’t be looking to God for strength or rest. I’ll be powerless and alone, and that’s when the enemy will strike. It’s like I subconsciously think that if I schedule my life to be busy enough, then I won’t have time to feel the hurt in my heart that is caused when I walk away from God. If you’ve ever made this same error, you know it doesn’t work. At the end of the day, you’re still alone with your thoughts. The quiet moments you do get to yourself, you feel empty and angry at the world. Sometimes you feel like that for so long, you forget that there was anything different. Maybe this is just how life is. But what if I told you that it doesn’t have to be that way? 

The first way to fix any problem is to admit that there is a problem. It’s easy to admit that we are all busy. But what constitutes “too” busy? It’s so easy to apply that description to someone, as long as it isn’t you. 

Me? Too busy? Never, I have it all (semi) under control. 

If this sounds like you (or maybe it doesn’t) check your heart to see if you really ARE too busy. Here’s a list to help you out: 

How to Know You’re a Little Too Busy

You get sad/bored when you aren’t doing something.

You don’t know how to have rest when you aren’t jumping from task to task constantly. You struggle to just be.

You’re exhausted - physically, mentally, emotionally, or any combination.

Being busy all the time leaves you drained. Motivation? Who is that? It’s a struggle to have drive or energy to get things done at the end of the day. 

You struggle to manage what’s already on your plate.

The thought of someone adding one more thing to your schedule is terrifying because you’re barely holding that together, much less anything else that might pop up.

Feeling empty when you aren’t productive.

Lacking a sense of purpose, you look back to all the things you can control and accomplish to define who you are

If you’ve gotten this far, there’s a good chance that everything you just read sounds all too familiar. Not to worry, dear reader, I am not in the business of leaving you without hope. Now that a problem has been identified, it’s time to address it. Otherwise, you’ll continue down the path that inevitably leads to burnout, frustration, and emptiness. But the exit is just up ahead! You don’t have to continue down the road of defeat:

How to Focus & Un-busy Your Life

Look to God for strength and rest.

It is essential for Christians to rely upon God’s strength to help them in time of need (Isa 41:10, Psalm 73:26). But it is equally as important to rest in God. You have to trust someone to be able to truly rest in their presence. When life seems like it’s too much, rest in the Lord (Psalm 62:1, 4:8, 46:10).

Stop being a Martha and be a Mary for a change.

(Read Luke 10:38-42) It is so easy to work rather than worship, at least for me. Even in ministry, I can easily tell myself that my work is for the Lord, so it’s okay to not be worshipping right now. But what if we had worshipful work? You can’t always clear your schedule, but you can definitely change your mindset while you work. Do you ever just count your blessings while doing a mundane task? Talk to God about what is stressing you out? Sing in your heart to God? All these things can change our hearts and point us to worship, helping us to make the most of what we’re doing.

Be purposeful in your quiet time.

If you aren’t intentional about your relationship with God, just like any other relationship, it will fall apart. It is easy to stick God on the backburner, but we can’t afford to do that. Purposefully carve out time that is set aside for you and God. Worship, read your Bible, pray. Starting your day off with quiet time can set the tone for the whole day. Neglecting to feed your soul will be detrimental in the long run. Got some spiritual fuel every day! 

Set boundaries 

The Bible is very clear that we should work (2 Thess. 3:10). But there is a difference between working and being overwhelmed because you are too busy, and there is a fine line between them. When you find yourself overwhelmed, it is easy to question your abilities and confidence begins to go down the drain. It is at these weak moments that the devil can easily strike. Weakened faith is so very close to questioning God, which can quickly lead to turning your back on Him! It is important to set boundaries on your work so that you have balance in your life and don’t wind up overwhelmed. Sometimes this means saying no to things, and that’s okay. 

Look to the ant.

Read Proverbs 6:6. Ants are always busy, but they know their place. They work with a team and they know how much they can carry (which is an impressive amount given their body weight.) If they can’t carry the load, they get help from their teammates. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when your load is too heavy!

If you aren’t busy in today’s world, you’ve almost become an outlier. The world is moving at a pace that’s almost too fast for us to process. It’s okay to be busy, but it isn’t okay to become overwhelmed and neglect your walk with God. Sometimes you have to take a step back and refocus your attention on eternal matters rather than the smaller things that constantly vy for your attention.