I鈥檝e always been a busy person. There鈥檚 really no other way to describe my decades-long lifestyle: busy, busy, busy and loving it. For the last several years, however, I鈥檝e stopped operating as a technical writing business, stopped (for health reasons) a number of volunteer activities and, most difficult of all, stopped doing all my housework by myself. I admit it鈥檚 not been easy, this not being busy business.
In an attempt to see how many other people share the struggle I鈥檝e had in slowing down, I checked out a few quotes. These are some of them: 鈥淚f ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?鈥� (Marie Dressler) Thought provoking to say the least!
How鈥檚 this: 鈥�Keep busy while you are waiting for something to happen.鈥� (Robert Genn). So true! Spending our time brooding over lost opportunities or grieving over those things we can鈥檛 control is not only painful, it鈥檚 wasteful.
In the Old Testament, Solomon writes these wise and provocative words: [The wise person] 鈥渨ill not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.鈥� (Ecclesiastes 5:20). Kept busy with joy 鈥� what a liberating and exciting concept. On those days when we struggle with the inability to do what we once loved and delighted in doing (for what ever reason), we can rest yet continue to rejoice in the love and presence of a God who does not count our value by the hours of activity we track each day.
Are physical challenges, the inability to find employment or some other factor contributing to your stress level? Ask God to show you how you can still use your talents for His glory. If you鈥檙e depressed, ask Him for the kind of joy that demands you share it!
