The devastation to the World Trade Centers brought many to their knees and shed light on the imperative need to be dependent on God. As he sat in his living room watching the events unfold on television he was still holding the list he had made for the many tasks he would take on that day. He found himself in a state of prayer, thinking that could have been him on duty that day, rushing into the face of danger to help others. "Lord, we don't know what You have in store for us each day. Give me wisdom to discern what you want me to do. Are the things on this list how you want me to spend my time?", he submitted.Immediately, the phone rang. He recognized the familiar voice of a fellow firefighter."I'm having a little trouble at home. Do you have time to get together today?", the friend asked."I've got all the time in the world, man. Come on over."Proverbs 16: 1-4 says, "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends- even the wicked for a day of disaster.".Everyone knows how hardship can bring us to closer dependence on God. He has all the power to help us through these situations. But we also should realize His overall purpose is for us to be dependent on Him every day, even in times of good weather. He desires for us to commit every little part of our daily activities to His purpose. This is how we can know we are doing His will: by living according to His priorities He designed for us. To love God, to love others, to work, to rest, and to do good works are the priorities we looked at last week. If we are ever in doubt that what we plan for our days is according to God's will, we can weigh it against these priorities.It is a good practice to, whenever an idea or a plan forms in our minds, to immediately go to God in prayer to allign our actions to carry out His purpose. This is necessary to keep us from falling into trouble because "a mind made up is almost impossible to change". (Morley) That's when we know we are being effective in our spiritual lives, for we are doing "the right job right", not just being efficient in getting a lot of things done that may or may not have a lasting status. "Nothing wastes more time for the Christian than pursuing his own independent will." (Morley) Doing God's work, committing our days to His purpose, and seasoning our conversations with salt are investments that last eternally.Paul knew the correlation between the Christian walk and an athletic event. He made references to "fighting the fight, running the race, and pressing on toward the goal". He encourages us to be participants in God's arena and warns of the perils of being a mere spectator. In a "sold out" condition, there is standing room only. Those seated are stuck in one place, while those standing are moving here and there, distracted from the events in front of them, thus making them ineffective in finding the "rest" (physical, mental, and spiritual) that Jesus intended. Another definition of "sold out" implies a dedication or a state of total commitment to something. Is there evidence in our own lives that proves we have "sold out" to something other than fulfilling God's purpose for us?Pat Morley writes, "We must see our spiritual life as the first link in everything we do, not as some independent activity we perform which is unrelated to the details of daily living. To be effective with our time requires us to bridge the spiritual life to our life in the marketplace, to see the totality of what we do as a singular life. Our motto should be, "One life, one way.". When we live as if all of life is spiritual - which it surely is - we translate the will of God into the minutiae of our lives, where it belongs."This is the essence of time management according to God's will. To God be the glory.Next week: Solving Our Temperament Problems: Pride.
