Busyness is not a sign of success, effectiveness, or importance, yet many live their lives as if it is. Busyness is a sign that our schedules are too full, and we are missing the opportunity to be fully present in the moment, focused on our true priorities. Of course, there are times, maybe even seasons, where circumstances require us to live with heavy agendas, but this is not meant to be a way of life. Even Jesus, a man with a tremendous mission, made time to be alone; to step away from the activity of ministry to be renewed.

When I first entered the process toward ministry, my uncle (who is also a pastor) gave me a profound piece of advice, “Remember, the pastor who is always available, usually isn’t any good when he or she is available.” I remind myself of this often, as many around me judge down time as a sign of ineffectiveness. I’ve seen it in meetings of clergy and lay people, whose calendars are filled with appointments. They pass the same judgement on themselves as they do others, believing that more items in their agenda, and on their “to do” lists, is a sign that they are doing more effective work for God. This approach often leads to little time to soak in the word, enjoy God’s presence, and listen to the voice of the Lord.

I remember being confronted by a person who had something they believed I should add to my schedule. The church I was serving at the time required a lot from me in the mornings, and the evenings were often filled with meetings and classes. This left a little time in the afternoon to get away with my wife, enjoy the company of friends, and spend some quiet time with God. When it became clear that I was not going to add this request to my agenda, her reply was, “Well, if you have time for coffee in the afternoon, you have time to do this for me.”

I could have chosen to allow this to offend me, but actually, it made me sad. Sure, there was little respect shown for the commitments I already had, but her comment represented the way she lived her life. It was no wonder she was stressed, and no wonder many of us are for the same reason.

We can talk about going deeper in our walk with God, pressing into our relationship with Jesus, and soaking in the scripture, but if we do not slow down and make time in our schedules, we will only give lip service to these ideals. Being good stewards of our lives and of our faith development requires us to be attentive to how we allocate our time. Time spent with God is an investment in all that we do in Jesus’ name, and it comes with great reward.

Here is where it can get a little sticky. There are things we need to do, and there are demands on our schedule we should attend to, but drawing the line between those activities and the countless nonessential requests can be difficult. Our view of ourselves, our desire to be needed and respected, and our fear of judgement can keep us from making healthy decisions about our time.

Not long ago, I was sharing with a colleague my struggle with what people expected from me. Between ministry and family, I was finding little time for nourishing my spirit and developing my creativity. Many of the things I wanted to do were being put off, or lost all together. His response was exactly what I needed to hear, “Who sets your schedule?”

We all like to claim the people in our lives are responsible for our busyness, but the truth is, the choice is ours to make. While there may be consequences from not taking on a task or appointment, the decision to include them in our agenda is ours to make. I needed that reminder. Maybe, you do too.

Developing our spiritual life requires an investment of time. If it is a priority, we will make time for the things that will grow our faith and relationship with God. In my own life, there are times when I will cancel my time with God to attend to other matters. I console myself with the knowledge that God understands, but if the appointment was with my Bishop, my Superintendent, or numerous other people, I would never cancel the appointment for those reasons. It is a difficult truth to accept, but I find it too easy to ignore what is most important.

This is why I need to be reminded of how Jesus ordered his life. One specific story always stands out for me. Jesus is on retreat with his disciples when someone finds him to tell him his beloved friend Lazarus is extremely ill. Jesus’ response to this news is to remain on retreat for two more days! When he finally arrives, Martha is quick to remind him that he arrived too late. If only he came sooner, Lazarus would be alive. Of course, the story concludes with Jesus raising him from the dead, but the message of his actions is clear, it was more important to stay apart with God, than to rush back, in spite of the expectations and opinions of others.

Experiencing a deep life of faith will require sacrifices. It will mean that we must prioritize our lives, and live out of those priorities. We will need to slow down and make room for God to have our attention for more than a few moments, or while we are rushing on to our next appointment. These decisions will not be easy, or popular, but they will be right, and as is often the case, the best results will come from doing the hard thing.

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The story of Jesus unfolds one day at a time, just as our lives do. There was no button Jesus or his family could press that would leap them forward in the story. They had to walk out the plans of God in their lives like everyone else and there was a lot of waiting.

We often miss this truth as we reflect on the life of Jesus. The gospels tell the story of Jesus, but they do not all give the same amount of detail. Matthew begins with the entire genealogy of Jesus and then jumps to his birth, while Mark begins with John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism at thirty years old! Luke gives the longer narrative of Jesus birth, including the famous dramatic monologue of Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, and John begins with a more philosophical reflection on the Word.

In every case, the story moves rather quickly and in just a few verses, or a couple of chapters at most, Jesus is a thirty year old man beginning his ministry. So, it is easy to see why we get the feeling that Jesus’ life was always full of ministry activity and moved along quickly. The truth is, it took the same time it take us, including time spent waiting.

Waiting is an important part of the spiritual life. In spite of living in a time where our digital world moves quickly, exploring the deep things of God comes by slowing down and waiting on God to speak and lead. This is exactly why the adult Jesus is seen making regular time away to wait in prayer. Waiting on God puts us in a position to hear the profound whispers of the Holy One in our lives, and to breathe deep the breath of the Holy Spirit.

Take a moment to ponder these few verses:

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:13-14

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. – Psalm 33:20-22

There are many more, but clearly, the Scriptures affirm the value of waiting on the Lord.

If you are anything like me, you can find yourself impatiently waiting for things to happen. I can become impatient waiting for my computer to start, and that takes less than a minute. We’ve been trained to expect things to happen quickly and to reject things, places, and people who make us wait, but this is exactly the opposite of what draws us to the deep revelation of God.

Whether it is making time in our daily devotions to quietly wait to hear from the Lord, or patiently enduring the circumstances of our lives as we wait for God to grow us and deliver us, waiting is essential to an intimate relationship with God. That, therefore, makes it an extremely valuable tool in living an effective, powerful, victorious Christian life.

We cannot rush God, so instead, we allow God to teach us how to patiently wait. Like Jesus, who grew one day at a time, so we trust our growth and our future to God as we wait upon him. We come before the Lord, still our hearts, and wait patiently for the still, small voice of the One to speak, and we savor the time in his presence. What a way to spend another day of Christmas, and what a good thought as we plan for a new year!

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