I’ve always been a busy person. There’s really no other way to describe my decades-long lifestyle: busy, busy, busy and loving it. For the last several years, however, I’ve 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’s not been easy, this not being busy business.
In an attempt to see how many other people share the struggle I’ve had in slowing down, I checked out a few quotes. These are some of them: “If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?” (Marie Dressler) Thought provoking to say the least!
How’s this: “Keep busy while you are waiting for something to happen.” (Robert Genn). So true! Spending our time brooding over lost opportunities or grieving over those things we can’t control is not only painful, it’s wasteful.
In the Old Testament, Solomon writes these wise and provocative words: [The wise person] “will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:20). Kept busy with joy – 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’re depressed, ask Him for the kind of joy that demands you share it!
