At the most demanding period of my college career, second semester of my junior year, I decided to take God up on a challenge. I would give him one whole hour of my day. Every day. It may not seem like a big deal, but to me it was huge. I would easily spend fifty hours a week just on homework outside of class, in addition to my part time job. My social times were limited to Saturday 9-12pm and Sunday morning church. An hour a day was a sacrifice.
I convinced myself that nothing would get in the way. Not an assignment, not a test, not a project. That hour would be sacred.
And it was. I kept true to my commitment.
Something strange happened. It wasn't until I got my grades at the end of the semester that I realized the miracle. I had consistently averaged a 3.2 GPA throughout college and that semester it sky rocketed to a 3.9!
I was blown away. God was teaching me something. Steven Covey was right when he said, “Put first things first.”
As a leader, and a human, we get lost in urgency. Our time slips away to the important demands of our responsibilities. We can easily justify working more, because projects need to get done. I find myself battling this often.
It wasn't until I read the words of Oswald Sanders that my college lesson was revitalized.
“You always have enough time to do the will of God.”
It is easy to think time is the problem:
"I don't have enough time…"
"If only I had more time…"
"If only I had less to do…"
But the truth is God created us to live in time. From one day to the next. I found freedom when I realized all that God wanted for me I could accomplish in the time I had.
The questions became, "What does God want me to accomplish?" and "How does God want me to spend my time?"
God became God of my time. If we are not careful, our tasks will rule over our time.
As leaders we will always have important things that need to get done, often things for His Kingdom. But first things need to come first.
How does your day look? What is ruling your time? When is the last time you presented your time as a sacrifice to the Lord?
