Devotions with Pastor Fran Ruecker

When You Feel Too Busy To Enjoy Life
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 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
    Remind me that my days are numbered--
    how fleeting my life is.
 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
    My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
    at best, each of us is but a breath.”  -Psalm 39:4-6 NLT

I don’t know about you but I have found lately that life is a very precious commodity.  As I look around me I realize how many people go through life never giving a thought about tomorrow or how fast life is fleeting.   We live in such a fast paced society where everyone is busy making a living, taking care of their kids or their houses or their possessions that we find ourselves on this treadmill of life that seems to get faster and faster.  Families are running their kids here and there to every possible sport event.  Grabbing fast food on the way and never really spending quality time at home. And the list goes on.

Here it is August and I honestly don’t know where January went and for sure I haven’t gotten all the things done that I really wanted to do by now. The crazy thing is all the things we are doing in our lives can be a good thing. But we will have to admit to ourselves that doing all of it on a constant run is killing us. (Not literally)  But I have found that I don’t have the energy or the drive to be on a constant run anymore.  Sometimes I just want to get off this treadmill and enjoy life.  But then I look around and this needs to get done and this needs my attention and before I know it I am back on the treadmill of life.  

I think we can become so busy that we get lost in all of it and our time with the Lord is just on Sunday’s and never during the week.  I know that I have every intention of spending time in the Word but if I don’t purposely carve out that time I get busy and before I know it another day is finished and I haven’t given God top priority. 

I use to think when I was in my twenties that fifty was really old.   Then as I approached fifty I realized one day that I was no longer going up the slope of life but was at the top looking down and realizing that my life is half done.  And the older I get the more I realize that life is just a fleeting moment.  What do I still want to accomplish in my life time?  What goals do I have set that I still haven’t met?  What am I going to be remembered for?  What legacy am I going to leave behind?  That I was a faithful servant of Christ or just a too busy woman going through life that missed all that God had for my life?  I don’t know about you but I really want every moment of my life to count for something for Him.  I don’t want to be remembered for just being a religious person. And I certainly don't want to be remembered for being a too busy person, but I want to be known for being Jesus to those around me.  And I can’t be that person if I am too busy to stop and take inventory of what really matters in my life, and step off the treadmill and slow down and spend quality time with those dear to me.  Slow down and enjoy life in its fullest with Christ as my companion. All the things we work so hard to acquire will wear out and eventually need to be replaced.  Our kids will grow up and we will find ourselves with an empty nest. But the lives we touch and the things done for Christ will last a lifetime.   

Just as we read in today’s verse, being aware that my days are short helps me remember to focus on the things that bring real happiness, peace and purpose to my life and my relationship with Christ , my family and my relationships.  If I can focus on the big things in life, I’m better at protecting my time and all the little things that creep in and make my life crazy busy.  

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you feel the demands of all the things that seem so urgent in life.  You want to finish your Bible study, but those piles of laundry must get done. You want to sit down and read that book to your little ones but your mind can’t get away for all those chores that need to get done. Or maybe your mind wanders and you wonder what’s new on Facebook and before you know it you have spent an hour scrolling while nothing gets done and then you are upset with yourself because those things still need to be done and your fairy godmother didn’t show up to do it for you.  The struggle is real.

I’ve learned the best way to keep my heart and mind focused is to keep my to-do list focused as well. 

Have a blessed day,
Pastor Fran