“A Heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30
I had a revelation a while back when I was on my way to church one morning around 7:40am. I was about 15 minutes away from the church and I was supposed to be there in 5 minutes. I was running late. It also seemed as if I was being held back by every single stop light and every single slow moving person on the road. There was no way I was going to be on time this morning. In my anger I was wondering why God has to put every single slow person on the road and stop me with every single stop light in Delaware. Why can’t he read the situation and clear the road for me. That was when a few light bulbs went on in my head.
Tardiness was a pattern in my life. I was always about 12 minutes late wherever I went. It didn’t matter if it was a place I wanted to be or a place I didn’t care so much for. I was always about 12 minutes late on average. If I really thought I about this chronic problem I began to realize that my lateness and the amount of obstacles on the way to my destination were directly related. Not only this but my anger level and impatience were also related these factors. So I changed. I began leaving for places so that I would be 15 minutes early rather than right on time. Do you know that as soon as I did this the roads were a lot easier to navigate. I didn’t see to many slow people on the road. Stop lights seemed less frequent. Above all of this I never struggled with self control or patience. Go figure.
Our lives are reflected in this illustration of my immaturity (my revelation came several years ago). People today are angry and impatient. Most men pretty much live on the edge of insanity. If you don’t believe me I dare you to test me. Next time you are on the road change lanes without your blinker and cut it a little close and see what happens. One of the main reasons men are on the edge of insanity, a breaking point if you will, is because they have mismanaged their time. We have left no room for any stop lights, slow people and obstacles in life. As a result we live a life of being ticked off and ready to scream at any moment.
A man who is after the Lord’s heart needs to get how he spends his time under control. You have to have boundaries. You have to have time to stop, go slower, and navigate obstacles. Think about it for a moment. How do you react when an unknown factor enters into the picture? You come home from work and your wife says any of the following: “Your son got in trouble at school today.” Or “Did you forget that we have dinner at my mom’s tonight?” or “The Home Owners Association bill came in the mail last week. I forgot to tell you. It is due by tomorrow. Can you drop it off?” Many a man will react with either a) getting angry b) mumbling and complaining and/or c) ignoring the question all together. Why do we react this way? Because we are living without boundaries. We say “yes” to everything and every activity. We are so busy doing all the wrong things that we have run out of time for stops, obstacles, slow people and relationships. If something is not in the plan we get ticked off.
Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Godly men are to have a heart at peace. You can’t have peace when all of life is about the next great thing. Stress not only kills a man physically but spiritually as well. A man loses quality when they are stressed out. Envy or strife rots a man from the inside out. When you are always on the run, always worried about bills, always charging up the credit accounts, always working late hours to pay for the American Dream you will begin to rot from the inside out.
How can we begin to have victory in this area? I would challenge the men in our church to budget their time. I talked about this on Sunday. I am providing a resource for men and families to use. Find out where you spend your time. Make “budget cuts” if need be. By using this tool you will see that many of you are living by stealing time from relationships so that you can meet the other demands. This is not the discipline of a godly man. This exercise will help you to see where your priorities lie and may even help you to make some tough godly decisions as the leader in your home. Take the challenge…the clock continues to click.
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