PEARL OF WISDOM:

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief.”

PROVERBS 24:33

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WE ARE ALL PRONE TO EXCUSES. One of our favorites is that we simply “don’t have enough time in the day.” But time is the one resource of which we all have been given an equal portion.

If your life runs at full speed, and you simply don’t have enough time to take action on the big vision that God has put before you, I have a very simple solution to propose:

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Wake up one hour earlier.

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I can almost hear the excuses now. Why? Because just like you, I am not a morning person. I know the excuses that rise up at the suggestion of rising early because I have confronted them personally. And I’ll tell you that never are we humans so creative at dishing out excuses as in the wee hours of the morning. And never are we more vulnerable to the flimsiest of logic either. The proverbial “thief” is banking on it.

Here is an admission: Until sleep has been broken of its hold over you, rising early will in fact feel like cruel torture…for the first 10 minutes. But sticking with the decision to rise early through those first 10 minutes will yield a major reward: More time. How?

This part should be obvious: waking up 1 hour earlier adds 1 hour of awake time to your day. But the real gains are achieved by what you do in that hour – namely consult God in prayer on setting priorities (His priorities) for your day. 

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Discerning what to eliminate from your schedule takes time you never feel you have, but it is time you simply must make.

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In my experience, taking this time results in a plan that eliminates many of my to-do items in favor of a few well-chosen, high-impact tasks.  

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INSIGHT TO ACTION

If your life is running at full throttle and still the day seems too short, you may truly be too busy. In fact busyness seems to be the real thief of the modern age. Here’s a good morning time strategy to keep the thief at bay:

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Take time in the morning to ask God what He intends your priorities to be for that day. That way, even if there are 10 to-do’s on your list, you are sure to complete the one that is most important to Him.

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Next, submit your entire schedule to The Lord in prayer. You may find that half the obligations you have taken on are not aligned with His plan for your life. Then, wow! You just cleared a whole swath through your schedule, and paved the way for greater effectiveness.

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And finally, ask God for a big vision of His plan for you. There is nothing that will help you clear away encroaching busyness like a big call on your life.

Many Blessings!

 P.S. Check out a tool I designed and use every day to help prayerfully set daily priorities. I call them my Daily Office Contemplation Cards. They are inspired by an ancient Christian practice of prayer called the daily office and are available for purchase online at the Her Worth International Marketplace