May 7, 2011 | Life Reflections
What is it like
to wake up from your musing
to find the mist clearing up before your eyes
and see glimpses of the world beyond
What is it like
to stand at the edge of a dream
to discover that reality looks somewhat familiar
because you’ve seen it in your sleep
What is it like
to realize that talks of changing the world in times past
are not so far-fetched after all
and your hands can seize and mold the presence
What is it like
to awaken with a thrill in your heart
to feel its reverberation in your soul
and find that these are the days
when life is better than dreams
Apr 13, 2011 | Faith
The foundation of biblical time management.
To continue the “pillars” analogy, something I did not mention as a pillar in my previous post is God. That’s because God is not a pillar in my life; He’s the foundation. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being …” Acts 17:28. He infuses all the other things that I do.
Biblical time management builds on a platform that is radically different from any other management methods, namely a relationship with God, the solid Rock. This is the foundation on which all the other pillars stand, and naturally, the single most important factor in the whole picture.
Several things naturally ensue when we have a good foundation. First, the pillars can actually stand still, whereas if we don’t, stability is infeasible. Things can still be shaky when we have a solid foundation, but if we don’t, they can never be not shaky. Second, it buffers unexpected movements or perturbations that may take place. It means that when winds blow, the pillars won’t sway as much.
I don’t know how it works, but it does. Personal, quiet time with God is indispensable to good time management. It’s the key to sanity, really. When we ensure that this happens, when we truly experience communion with God, things simply settle. At the very least, the mind is settled and the soul is calm, and that makes a big difference.
Yet, this is more than an exchange, if at all. Meaning, I don’t spend time with God so that my pillars won’t sway. It may start that way, but something else happens in the process – I just want to be with God for who He is. It doesn’t really matter whether all other things are shaking or not; most likely they do stabilize, but that’s secondary in nature.
What’s a wonder to me is that when it comes to God, time is not a constraint; the math simply doesn’t add up. Somehow, I would have more time to do more things. For example, if I think I only have X amount of time to do 5 things, and so I crowd God out of my schedule, what usually happens is that I run out of time (i.e., X/5 amount of time to do each task, where X is a positive number, is not enough). Naturally, time’s already tight anyway. But when I add God to my schedule, like allocate more time to study His Word, pray, and remain in quietness, it may seem like the time to do the original 5 things is less (i.e., now I have X/6 instead of X/5 amount of time to do each task). As it turns out however, I would end up with not only enough time to do 6 things, I actually would have some more extra time. Go figure! It’s supernatural. Maybe God stretches out time, maybe He makes me more efficient, maybe He shapes the circumstances such that what I do in the given time suffices, or maybe it’s a combination of all of those. I don’t know.
Have I been to both ends of the spectrum? Absolutely. If anyone wants a sure recipe for life to fall apart, or bitterness, just leave God behind. I don’t recommend it. I’ve been so frazzled because I would crowd God out of my life, and I’ve been in moments where I would be amazed at the present reality, at how well things are going – “Is this for real?” These highest points correlate with the times when I’d study the Bible more than usual, typically to investigate a question or an issue. This type of search can make me not want to go to bed and so eager to wake up. It’s exhilarating and I’m a much happier person when this happens. Maybe things just don’t seem as bad when I have this kind of existence. Somehow, although my mind is more occupied even when I’m doing all the other stuffs, the results still turn out fine. Again, I don’t know how this works.
The things that are hard constraints for us are variables for God. He can shape and mold circumstances, and His hands can play with immaterial things – things that we can’t necessarily quantify. That means, when we schedule our days with this Being who sees time as an elastic material, we’re in for some crazy and mind-blowing rides.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matt 6:33-34.
Apr 12, 2011 | Life Reflections
See if this picture sounds familiar. Your life, as it were, is a building held up by a few main pillars. These pillars are the main roles that you play in life, whether it be family, school, work, church, ministry, etc. There are times when everything is going well, the earth is stable, and you can afford to coast through your days. But if you’re like me, you wish that these pillars are firmly planted or super glued to the ground so that you don’t have to keep working to make them stand still.
Ever felt like you’re doing mental acrobatics? The pillars are swaying, each of your hand is holding a pillar, maybe one is leaning against your body, one foot stabilizing another, and the other foot on the ground. You can’t move. Because if you do, something’s going to fall, so you keep your balance ever so precariously. Or, you’re constantly running from pillar to pillar to keep them standing still, but when you let go of one, another is swaying. You run to that one, another one sways. Once you get to the end, the first one is moving again. And on and on and on… Been there?
I crack myself up every time I think of these mental images.
These scenarios are perfect recipes for burning out. You can even get burned out doing the things that you love, and out of all the good things you can do out there, the worst kind is getting burned out from ministry.
In my life, these pillars translate to, in alphabetical order, ANEW, campus ministry, family, friends, personal development, research, and Think Tank, all of which I absolutely love and don’t want to give up. Although on a day to day basis I mostly operate with the “something’s gotta give” paradigm, I still am a firm believer that you can do everything right. If everything is going right work-wise, most likely I’m not eating right, behind in laundry, haven’t done groceries in a while, etc. These are the easiest to “give.”
In fact, just until yesterday, I had no replacement for my two pairs of walking shoes, one’s 8 years old and the other’s 5 years old, that are falling apart. True story. I wear them almost everyday because they’re so comfortable, and why should I buy more? I mean, shoes are supposed to last forever right? Never thought the day would come when their soles would be torn and part of it is getting detached. Up until yesterday I was actually praying that God would keep them from falling apart, kinda like how He kept the soles of the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. I honestly didn’t have the time to go to the store.
They still look nice, right? Looks can be deceiving. Goodbye, old shoes. You have served me well.
But, as I said, I have not given up hope that one can do everything right, especially when God has called him/her to each area that he/she has in his/her life. Hence, I want to decode the problem and see if something can be done to remediate it. I’m really brainstorming for myself here, but also for my fellow laborers in Christ. So, I think I’m going to start a series of posts on time management, things I’ve experimented with, things I’ve failed miserably at, basically, just sharing my notes. Hopefully, someone else doesn’t have to go through the experiment again.
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” Exodus 3:2
