Crazy Busy? 5 Simple Steps to a Purposeful, Joyful, Christ-Saturated Life

Posted on December 05, 2009 by Kim Avery, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.

Are you crazy busy? Are your days full of tasks, pressures, and responsibilities? Do you rush from thing to thing trying to stay on the treadmill of life? Is your relationship with God more of a duty than a delight? Are you full but not fulfilled?

With these 5 Simple Steps you will be able to assess how busyness is affecting the quality of your life, realign yourself with God’s truths, and begin the move towards a purposeful, joyful, and Christ-saturated life.

Prioritize

How is busyness compromising your relationship with God and others?

Busyness is America’s most applauded addiction. It is easy to see why. Quick movements, fast decisions, email relationships – these all have to appearance of wisdom, the ability to buy us the life and happiness we want. Yet in reality, busyness undermines our relationship with God and robs us of joy in our daily living.

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.
Don’t worry about missing out.
You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:33

Action Step #1: Write down the most important thing you can begin doing today to ensure that busyness will never again compromise your relationship with God. Schedule in the changes you will need to make to reflect your new priorities.

Simplify

How much of the busyness and complexity of your life is a result of choosing, purchasing, and maintaining luxury items that you never have time to enjoy?

Does keeping up with the ‘stuff’ of your life take increasingly more time and money? It is easy to spend so much time acquiring and repairing our possessions that we barely have time to enjoy them. Crazy, isn’t it? How easily we forget this truth, everything comes from God and exists for God.

We are but stewards of our lives and our resources. A faithful steward waits to hear from the Master before she decides what to buy and what not to buy. Then and only then does the steward implement the Master’s will. God has a plan for all our lives and it is greater than the sum of our possessions.

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
I John 2:15-17

Action Step #2: Make a list of 5 ‘things’ in your life that you are planning to purchase this year or that you already own. Prayerfully submit each one to God and ask Him what He would have you do in regards to that thing. Do it.

Exemplify

How much of your time is devoted to trying meet the expectations of others?

People-pleasing stems from the underlying false belief that our value as a person depends on what others think of us. Incredible freedom comes from truly owning the Scriptural truth that God loves you unconditionally regardless of your accomplishments and your short-comings. Choose today to exemplify that truth, whether you ‘feel’ it or not.

If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Galatians 1:10

Action Step #3: Commit to not saying ‘yes’ to any new thing for one whole month without taking one week to pray and seek counsel first.

Invest Time Wisely

How would your pace of life and your peace of mind be different if you had three extra hours a day?

It’s fun to imagine having an extra three hours a day. My cupboard would be full, the laundry done, and my emails all answered. With three extra hours, I would savor God, love my family, enjoy my friends, and live fully.

Yet, most of us do have an extra three hours a day. We just spend it watching TV. Carl Sandburg once said, _“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent.” _ Spend wisely!

“After a long absence, the master of those three servants came
back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him:
‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
Matthew 25:19-21

Action Step #4 -Invest your time wisely this week by turning the TV off completely or consider cutting your TV viewing in half for one month. The return on investment will delight you.

Rest

A recent _Obstacles to Growth Survey _reports that among Christians, “Six out of ten women say they ‘sometimes,’ ‘often,’ or ‘always’ feel guilty when they relax.”

Surprising though, this current epidemic of busyness has less to do with what we have to do then our understanding of who is responsible for doing it. In Isaiah 46:10 God says, _’My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’ _ God never wearies yet He designed us to need rest. Relax and enjoy.

It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

Action Step # 5: Decide today to rest physically from all your routine ‘doings’ one full day a week. Mark off this day on your calendar for the next 52 weeks. Keep this time of rest sacred. It is.

Prioritize, simplify, exemplify, invest, and rest, these 5 simple steps will move you today closer to purposeful and joyful life that God has for you.

Learn more about enjoying the life God has given you by signing up for the free report, “Change Your Thinking. Change Your Life.” at www.LifeCoachingForChristianWomen.com.