Daily Digest #171

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. —Joshua 24:15

I thought the decision to follow God is as simple as making a single deal that one has to stand up for the rest of his or her life. Then I figured how I should make the choice every single day. I know I am weak, and I am a sinner, and the more I think about the "pact" that I made before, the more I find myself drifting farther away from Him. The will to follow and make Him my leader suddenly becomes an illusion, where I am actually doing what I think is right, which has never really given me the peace and content that He offers. It's like saying "God, You are in control" when in fact my actions speak "I am in control".

For this, let us pray. May we ask for wisdom to know His will. May we continuously seek His guidance in all that we think or do. May we find comfort and contentment in Him, and joy in doing our tasks. May we grow a kind, loving and patient heart as we go through our daily lives. Pray always.

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Surviving Your Schedule

2008/10/31

An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions. Proverbs 17:24 (TEV)

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Do you ever get to the end of your day and think "Did I accomplish anything today?" Where does all the time go?

If you don't master your schedule, it will master you. Here are three suggestions from the Bible for reducing the stress of your schedule:

Line up your priorities. Obviously, you don't have time to do everything. You must make choices. You must decide what's really important and what isn't. Take some time to consider the direction of your life.

· "It is stupid to waste time on useless projects" (Proverbs 12:11 TEV).
· "You may make your plans, but God directs your actions" (Proverbs 16:9 TEV).

Lighten up your attitude. Do you really have to do everything on your to-do list? No one is holding a gun to your head. A lot of your stress is self-imposed. The Bible says that God gave us humor as a stress reliever.

* "Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up" (Proverbs 12:25 NLT).

* "A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away" (Proverbs 14:30 NLT).

* "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength" (Proverbs 17:22 NLT).

Look up to God. Stress is always a warning light that you've taken your focus off God and are looking at your problems from your limited viewpoint. I believe the single greatest cause of stress is this: We take ourselves too seriously and we don't take God seriously enough!

Need more time in your schedule?

* "Fear of the Lord lengthens one's life, but the years of the wicked are cut short" (Proverbs 10:27 NLT).

* "Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a place of refuge for their children" (Proverbs 14:26 NLT).