Making myself a plate of raw carrots and red pepper hummus, I sat down at the kitchen table with my laptop and phone. I was hoping to spend some uninterrupted time both catching up on emails and making out my grocery list on a new app I’d downloaded.
Just as I opened my inbox, a new email popped up. It was from one of my kids, who wanted to know if I could help them with an important letter they needed to write.
I began to type out my reply when suddenly my phone rang. It was a friend calling to ask if I could volunteer for a community event that was coming up in a few weeks. Once I’d taken the time to answer them both, I went back to the tasks at hand.
After barely 10 minutes, I was interrupted a third time. This time it was a knock on the door. There stood an elderly neighbor who wanted to chat for a while. Although I wanted to welcome her in and engage in conversation since I knew she was often lonely, I felt tugged in two directions. I felt like my focus — and my time — was being vied for by both my projects and my people.
As women, although these two components are distinctive and the way they combine in each of our lives is unique, we all have to learn to manage the tension between our relationships and our responsibilities. We are faced with decisions every day that will affect both how — and with whom — we spend our time. And if we aren’t deliberate to prioritize our time, there are many others out there happy to scratch out our schedules for us.
This pressure can leave us feeling chased by the added items on our agendas or tempted to place our most important relationships on the back burner.
In Psalm 31, the author, David, found himself being chased, most likely fleeing from Saul, as he penned its words. At times, David narrowly escaped his pursuer, and then at other times, he hunkered down in the wilderness to hide. In Psalm 31:14-15, we see him declare: “But I trust in you, LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”
Certainly, today we aren’t hiding out in the wilderness, trying to escape our enemies. But nonetheless, there are times when we indeed feel we are being pressured and pursued — by those who want us to spend our time as they desire or by those waiting projects that are calling our name.
During his physical and emotional turmoil, David boldly avowed his trust in the Lord. On the heels of this, he added, “My times are in your hands” (v. 15).The Hebrew word for “time” that was originally penned in the text is the word “eth.” It does mean time in the way we think of it today, as in a period or length of time. However, it also can mean our circumstances or a season.
Are you in a season of busyness due to your pressing projects or responsibilities? Or do your unsettling circumstances result from the pressure others place on you to spend your time as they want you to? If we are having trouble managing our roles and responsibilities, we can echo the words of David, placing our trust in God to help us order our days. We can pray for discernment to know just how and where to spend our time so that we don’t shirk our obligations or neglect the people God does desire for us to spend time with.
Your people. Your projects. The juggle is real. Thankfully, so is the help you will get from the Lord. He will empower you to manage the tension between both, and then you’ll navigate your days with confidence.
Father, please help me to sort through my various roles and relationships, making sure I seek Your help in knowing just how and with whom to spend my time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
