4:38 – A Little Bit of Extra Effort Yields More Time

#faithbites #faithjourney effort

Setting

I often say I’m busy and I don’t have enough time to do what I need or want to do. Today I realized that sometimes if you put in just a bit of extra effort, you can get more time. As many know, I serve as an online host for my church. I’ve been doing it since the pandemic started. While there are others who have expressed some interest in helping, I need to train them. It’s more time and more effort from me to bring them up to speed. It’s not a power thing, but a time thing. I’ve found out lately that I’m just exhausted and don’t have the effort to give. The funny thing is, if I just gave a little extra effort, I’d have more free time. It’s a catch 22.

This reminds me of the phrase, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime”. I had always thought this was in the bible but today found out I was wrong, it’s actually a Chinese proverb.

Onto today’s questions: What is going on in your life where a little bit of extra effort would free you up to do different things? How can you call on God to help you teach others or give up things to have more time?

Scripture

• Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
• Proverbs 16:3 – Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
• Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Reflection

Some #faithbites hit closer to home than others. This is one. In my life there have been and continue to be so many things that if I just took a little time to explain or teach someone to do it, I wouldn’t have to do it and could do other things. I know this in myself and am working on it. We see this our scripture verses for today.

Many of these tasks that make us tired and exhausted are Earthy and not heavily. Colossians say to focus on God and in Proverbs we see that if we commit to the Lord, we will know what we have to do. Often our Earthy pursuits, get in the way of understanding what plans God has for us. If we take the effort to help or teach others, we can then move on to those things God really wants us to do. The other piece is that we need to remember that if we give these tasks to others, it may be God helping us to help them with new opportunities.

Finally, in Ecclesiastes, we see that we are not made to be alone. That two are better than one. God has put others in our lives to help them grow on their path. Let’s look at that little bit of extra effort not as draining on us but on helping others grow. How awesome is that?

As we close, I know you are tired and exhausted. Turn it to God, ask for that little bit of energy to help you turn over those tasks and activities to others so you can focus on God and what he wants you to do.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for giving us so much guidance on how to live. Often, we focus on what we have to do, rather than what we get to do. We take pride in doing tasks that we don’t have to do. Sometimes, we are so tired, that we don’t have the extra effort to help others. While this saves us a little bit of energy, it takes away opportunities from them. We pray that you help us focus on you and not on earthly pursuits.

Lord, help us focus on what you want us to. Give us the strength to give up those things that we shouldn’t or don’t need to do. Help us focus on you and what you want us to do. We pray all these things in your name, Amen.