The Pursuit of Busyness

There’s been angst in the air this week.  Did you notice it? 

It’s nothing particularly major or specific.  There has been this undercurrent of uncertainty for a while now.  The nation’s economy.  The world’s economy.  Everyone’s personal economies.  What will the stock market do? What will I do? 

I don’t know if I just noticed it more this week or if the evil Forces of Angst are really picking up.  Maybe it was Ohio State losing.  Maybe it was the latest Facebook changes.  Who knows.  I have my own stuff going on, worthy of a major freak-out if I were the kind of person to allow drama in my life.  But since I’m not, I vented / commiserated ever so briefly and moved on.  Thank you to my support system, you rock.

Which brings me to what I really wanted to talk about … busyness.  Not business, busyness. 

Do you wear your busyness as a badge of honor?  I know I used to.  There are so many good, worthy things we can do with our time.  Certainly we need to provide financially for ourselves and our families, so work needs to be done.  We should provide enriching experiences for our children beyond just school – music, sports, social activities, etc.  Church!  Serving God is pretty high up there.  Various charitable causes, whether they be church-related or not. 

We serve God by serving others, right?  And sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.  So we’re supposed to work hard and do as much good stuff as possible in the time we’re given on this earth, right?  Right???

Well sort of.  My question is this … is your busyness serving you?  And by “serving you” I mean is it really what God wants for you?  For some of you that answer will be “yes”, and my message to you is great, y’all are awesome.  For others, God is testing / teaching you, and that’s cool too.  For many, I suspect, you’re too tired and cranky to really be at your best and to fulfill your purpose.  Ask me about the narcoleptic couches sometime.

Here’s a thought.  A question to ponder.  Are you so busy that you’re neglecting your own spiritual development?  I’m not trying to be holier-than-thou, ‘cause I have been there and often I continue to be there.  Too groggy in the morning, too tired before bedtime, and too on-the-run in between. 

So here it is.  If you’re not taking the time to try to tune in to what God wants … are you doing his will?