[PD Devotional] 52. Steps to Un-Stuff Your Schedule
052. Steps to Un-Stuff Your Schedule and Increase Your Margin
¡°Reverence for God adds hours to each day¡± (Proverbs 10:27 LB).
Do you ever get to the end of your day and think, ¡°Did I accomplish anything?¡± Where does all the time go?
If you don¡¯t master your schedule, it will master you!
Here are three suggestions from the Bible for reducing the stress of your schedule and increasing the margin:
1. Line up your priorities. Obviously, you don¡¯t have time to do everything, so you must make choices. You must decide what¡¯s really important and what isn¡¯t. Take some time to consider the direction of your life. The Bible says, ¡°An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions¡± (Proverbs 17:24 GNT); ¡°It is stupid to waste time on useless projects¡± (Proverbs 12:11, GNT); ¡°We should make plans—counting on God to direct us¡± (Proverbs 16:9 LB).
2. Lighten up your attitude. Do you really have to do everything on your to-do list? No one is holding a gun to your head; a lot of your stress is self-imposed. The Bible says, ¡°Worry weighs us down¡¦¡± (Proverbs 12:25 MSG); ¡°A relaxed attitude lengthens a man¡¯s life¡± (Proverbs 14:30 LB); ¡°Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time¡± (Proverbs 17:22 GNT).
3. Look up to God. Stress is always a warning light that you¡¯ve taken your focus off God and are looking at your problems from your limited viewpoint.
I believe the single greatest cause of stress is this: We take ourselves too seriously and we don¡¯t take God seriously enough!
=========================== today¡¯s sentence ============================
An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.