OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 34 - MAY 2007

Dear Friends:

Are there days when you feel that you have too much to do? That you can’t possibly accomplish all that is in front of you for the day?

When that happens, how do you feel? If you’re like me, anxiety sets in. My hearts beats a little faster, I move more quickly, I speak more rapidly, and I treat people a little more abruptly.

Is this how God wants me to live? No. Instead, God says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). He doesn’t want us walking around with tension in our bodies, anxiety in our hearts, and franticness in our speech. He wants us to rejoice in the day He has given and to be glad for the days and hours in front of us.

How can we do that in the middle of all kinds of pressures? Here are a few really practical suggestions that may help:

Give up control

When we feel the anxiety of a busy time in our lives overtaking us, we need to stop dead in our tracks, take a deep breath, and turn to God. Everything in us will want to get to work on the long “to do” list, but we must resist that urge for a time. If we don’t take this spiritual pause, we will get sidetracked into the insignificant and will not see the big picture God has in mind for us today.

So we take a few minutes to sit with God and allow His Spirit to minister peace to our spirits. And we tell God we are His servants, willing to do everything He wants us to do today. And we are willing to give up anything He does not want us to do today. After we pray that prayer with sincere hearts, we will be able to think more clearly and respond more readily to the plans that God has for us in the next 24 hours.

Get rid of clutter

Going to God as we have just described will help to unclutter our minds and our spirits. Now we need to look around and do some simple things to unclutter our work spaces. Our minds cannot think with clarity if there are too many piles of things on our desk. Allow ten minutes, no more, and work quickly to put away what you can, organize what you can, and throw away what you can. When we do that, we have just taken an overview of what is in front of us and what can wait for another time. And we get rid of that “buried” feeling which can sometimes be almost literal as the piles around us grow.

Give up perfection

There are times when perfection is important. If you are a surgeon, please be a perfectionist when you are wielding the scalpel! But if we are mowing the lawn, writing a letter, weeding the garden, or baking a birthday cake, usually 85 to 90% perfection will do. If we are gentle enough with ourselves to allow our finished product to be almost, but not quite, perfect, we will be able to get a lot more done. The last 10% on the road to perfection takes a long time and, in most areas of our lives, 85 to 90% works just fine. We can feel good about it and we find we will be more relaxed than we would be if we demand perfection of ourselves. Others will find us easier to be with, too!

Gear up for accomplishment

Proverbs 21:29b says, “. . . an upright man gives thought to his ways.” So before we get into the fray of an over-active day, let’s take a few minutes to think about what we need to do and how we can get it done.

Make a list of everything you have to do today.

Now cluster those tasks into groups of things that can be done together or in sequence. For example, put all errands together so you can go out once to do them today and not have to make multiple trips.

Then estimate the time you will need for each task, calculating generously so there is “wiggle room” if you get an unexpected interruption or if something just takes a little longer than you planned.

Now, evaluate. Do you realistically have time to do all that is on your list today? If not, something has to go. What can you put off until tomorrow? What can you delegate to someone else? What can you eliminate entirely?

As Nancy Leigh DeMoss once said, “You have time today to do everything God wants you to do.” Of course that is true. If we really believe it, though, we will go back over our tasks and ruthlessly eliminate anything that is not on God’s “to do” list for us today.

Remember the focused time in prayer we began with today? That commitment to giving up control to God comes to play right here when we are making our lists and planning our days. If we are in control, we won’t want to cross off or delay anything we think we should do. If God is in control, He will guide our schedule, our priorities, and our accomplishments. We simply have to be willing to let Him guide and be willing to stop long enough to listen to His voice and let Him be in charge.

And do you know that doing this comes with a promise? Here it is from Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” Why? Because our plans will be whatever God plans for us. And His plans can never fail.

Give God praise

Now that we have given up control, have uncluttered so we can think straight, have accepted our limitations, and have set a plan for the day with God as our guide, let’s go for it. We are now walking in sync with the God of the universe. Whatever happens today, we can praise Him for. Even if something comes up that is unpleasant, unplanned for, or seemingly disastrous, we turn to Him. We praise Him for who He is, for what He means to us, and for being our safe place in tough times. We praise Him for His power to work things out for our good and His glory. We praise Him most of all for his unending love toward us even when we forget to rest in Him.

Let’s rejoice together in the day the Lord has made for each of us today!

Blessings!

Bev

P.S. If you know of others who would enjoy receiving this newsletter each month, please encourage them to visit my website (www.beverlyvankampen.com), click on the newsletter icon, and enter their e-mail address. I would love to add them to our circle of friends.