Thoughts from Ed Miller
What
are the greatest challenges facing the family today? I’m going address these
issues over the next 10 or so weeks. I’d love to hear from you about the
challenges you and those in your circles are facing.
Almost
everyone would agree that time and schedule issues top the list. One of the
most common responses people give when asked to serve or attend an event is
this, “I’m really busy right now.” And that is a true statement. Everyone in
our society today is feeling overwhelmed with the various tasks and demands of
life. It’s true. We are very busy!
What
do we do about this? It’s a reality of our lives today, but is there a way that
the Lord would have us respond instead of just going with the flow? Many years
ago I heard it said that one of Satan’s favorite strategies to get Christian
off track is to fill our lives with good things. That way we don’t have time
for the “best” things. I think that's right on. Most of the things that fill
our lives are good. But are we doing the best things as well?
Last
week I wrote about being a missional family. This is one of those “best” things
that needs to be a priority in our lives and our schedules. We must make time
for our family to grow in this way. It
may mean that we say no to some of those good things.
Good
friends of ours have 2 teenage sons and they have had to make some hard
decisions at the start of this new year. They are very committed to being a
missional family and their younger son is preparing for college and looking at
schools. He also loves to play basketball and baseball. They’ve decided to say
no to one sport (baseball) in order to have time for the other things. I
respect this decision. It just happens that I’ve been the coach of his
Homeschool Varsity Baseball team and he’s one of our ace pitchers. I know the team
will miss him this spring. I have great respect for the decision that they've
made.
What are some priorities that you've chosen in your family that have allowed you to say no to other options? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is not a direct answer to your question (as I'm the guy who should be standing at a distance beating his breast saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"), but I think that perhaps the most helpful Scripture to interrogate our busy-ness is the parable of the great banquet (Lk 14:12-24). The answer of those invited to the banquet are all variations on the theme of "I'm too busy," to which the master says, "For I tell you, none of those men who were invited [and made busy-ness excuses] shall taste my banquet."
ReplyDeleteThanks Graham. This is a great story that brings home the message. We all struggle with busy-ness and we all need constant reminders to make the most important things the most important things!
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