Almighty God, in this quiet hour I seek communion with you.
From the fret and the fever of everyday business,
from the world's discordant noises, from the praise and blame of others,
from the confused thoughts and vain imagination of my own heart,
I would now turn aside and seek the quietness of your presence.
All week long I have toiled and striven,
but now with a stilled heart and in the clear light of your eternity
I would ponder the pattern my life is weaving.
Teach me to number my days that I may apply my heart to wisdom.
(John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer p 7 altered)
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.-
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:
I decide to wash my car.
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is post on the hall table.
I decide to go through the post before I wash the car.
I put my car keys down on the table,
put the junk mail in the waste paper basket under the table,
and notice that it is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first.
But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the post box when I take out the rubbish anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left.
My extra cheques are in my desk in the study,
so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my cheques,
but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
I see that the coke is getting warm,
and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the coke,
a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
I set the coke down on the counter,
and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I'd better put them back on my desk,
but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly I spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I'll water the flowers.
I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels
and wipe up the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm bottle of coke sitting on the counter,
the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one cheque in my cheque book,
I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail.
Haven't we all had days like that? Days of fritter and frustration?
As conscientious Christians we know time should not be wasted.
As Paul writes in Ephesians 5.15-16:
'Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.'
1 GOD CARES MORE
FOR HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO, THAN FOR WHAT WE DO.
That word 'how' is so important.
You may feel that what you do each day is not very important
that other people are more gifted or more useful to God
they achieve more
or you may feel that what you do most of the time is not very spiritual
(that's a mistake in itself)
and sometimes people get tied up in guilt that they are spending their time
in the wrong place or the wrong job or the wrong course
or even the wrong church
but the point is that the how is much more important to God than the what.
Suppose it's a lovely summer afternoon
and we have a choice to go to Kinsale or to Tramore/Crosshaven.
Dare I say God does not really mind which you decide
or how long you spend there?
But he does mind how you drive there,
how fast, and with what care of others on the way
and what you say about others as you travel
and how you react to the people you meet.
The 'how' is clear through much of Ephesians 4 & 5
truthful dealing with your neighbour 4.25
anger that does not boil over destructively 4.26
honest use of possessions 4.28
pure wholesome constructive conversation 4.29
no bitterness, brawling, bad mouthing 4.31
but kind compassionate forgiveness inspired by Christ's forgiveness of us 4.32
'imitators of God, as dearly loved children'
living a 'life of love' based on the sacrificial love of Christ 5.1-2
pure in every part of our bodily appetites whether for food or sex 5.3
pure in speech as well, no dirty jokes, but thanksgiving 5.3-4
we need to be quite clear
some kinds of behaviour are darkness
they separate us from God and from each other
others by contrast bring us into the light, closer to God closer to each other
This is the important question about our use of time
looking back on a day a week
not so much what did I do in that period of time,
but how was I in whatever it was? Was I light or darkness?
Was God pleased? Did I do those things with thanksgiving? Could I?
2 DISOBEDIENCE GRIEVES GOD AND WASTES TIME.
It is clear that our behaviour can 4.30 'grieve the Holy Spirit'.
Do we also see that it is a waste of time?
All the time spent in these tribunals
because people have been dishonest and deceptive.
What an expenditure of energy and time and public money,
sadly necessary because of human wickedness,
but in what better things could all those talented people be employed?
Or if you lose your temper, how long does it take for you to calm down
and be able to live and work constructively.
I find it takes me hours, maybe days.
Not only have I grieved God, it wears me down, it wastes precious time
which I could have used much more constructively if I hadn't lost the head.
Or the addictive grip of pornography so much in the news these days.
Whether child or adult, it is all a demeaning abuse of human beings,
and what a waste of energy drooling secretly and shamefully
when there is so much that is lovely and pure and of good report
on which to focus without harm to others or yourself, or offence to God.
My next points don't come so directly from Ephesians 4-5
but we may see connexions
3 SABBATH MAKES SENSE.
If we spend time with God, the rest of our time will be better spent.
I am not talking about
the old style don't do this and don't do that on Sunday debate.
I am talking about the need everyone of us has
to spend at least one seventh of our time in rest from our everyday tasks
and in joyful closer encounter with God.
If we get that right, so much else will be right?
If we ignore that principle of sabbath rest, it is a recipe for stress.
But here we must be careful to remember what Jesus said
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath
4 SCHEDULES ARE USEFUL SERVANTS AND STRESSFUL MASTERS.
Here I think of Mr Evans,
who was warden of a Christian students hostel when I was a student.
Mr Evans was a devout Christian, a sincere man who talked a good talk
but like many devout Christians, he could be difficult to work with.
Some of us went round to his flat one Saturday, to ask for a key.
Oh dear! 'What is it?' said a pained Australian accent
'Don't you know it's my day off?' 'I'm trying to get close to the Lord.'
He had a point, of course, he was entitled to a bit of peace and quiet
but I saw an episode of Trigger Happy TV' recently which reminded me of him.
Dom Joly poses in a park as a leader of spiritual aerobics.
A mobile phone goes off and he chews the face off the culprit.
'Can't you see I'm trying to do peace and tranquillity?' he bellows
What as funny in the comedian is sad in the sincere Christian
enslaved to his schedule, but needing to come to terms with
problems of anger and insecurity in his walk with God and with others.
It's good to have schedules and patterns in our lives
but they are there to help us rather than control us
and block out something God may be saying.
So let's see how we handle the unexpected in our lives.
If it makes us edgy and grumpy, and I've been like that too often
but we need to go deeper and ponder what God may be saying
in the knock on the door, the phone call, the unexpected event.
5 A DELAY CAN MAKE YOU MAD OR MAKE YOU PRAY.
Just a reflection here on modern life.
Cork today is almost unrecognisable compared to Cork 14 years ago
when we came here
Better cars, wider roads, more traffic lights, flyovers bypasses, even a tunnel
and more traffic jams, people getting up earlier and earlier to get in on time
What's happening to us? Is God saying something to us
about the polluting consuming way we move about, or crawl about?
Well, we can't solve traffic problems today
but we can do something about how we react to delays.
One thing we can do in a traffic jam is slow our minds down, relax, pray.
We may be seething at the missed appointment
but maybe God would say to us;
'Why does it matter?' 'Can't they survive without you?'
Maybe the journey isn't really necessary.
I know a pastor on the south side of Dublin
who found it was taking him over 2 hours just to travel to make a visit
on the north side of the city.
He felt that was a frustrating, tiring, use of time.
So he has set up instead a group of trained pastoral visitors all over the city
who can make local visits much more easily and then refer to him for training
and to consult about difficult situations.
What can be such a stressful draining situation
has been turned round into a positive development for the whole church.
Don't let delays make you mad, use them to pray,
and ask if it means there's a better way to do this.
5 JESUS NEVER RUSHED. JOHN 11.1-10
Even when his friend Lazarus was dying, he takes his time
Read John 11.1-10 and what follows for yourselves
to sense something of the tranquillity and order in the life of the Lord.
Do we ever read in the gospels that Jesus got into a flap?
My final points are simply practical common sense about priorities
7 PUT THE BIG STONES IN THE JAR AND THEN THE PEBBLES.
Simply a practical matter of identifying what is most important, the big stones,
in each day and giving that attention first
and then the little things can fit in around the big things
8 USE YOUR BEST HOURS FOR YOUR IMPORTANT WORK.
Each day and each week it is useful to spend a little time working your priorities
what are the big issues to be tackled, the big stones
and what are the smaller things which can then fit in around them
because if you start with the smaller things you may find
surprise, surprise you have no time for the bigger things.
Work out also which our your peak times for alertness and efficiency.
I found that out the hard way at college.
It was almost fashionable to have an 'essay crisis',
brought on of course by bad use of time
I tried the all night option a few times and found it dreadful
until I realised that if I went to bed at the usual time
and got up even a t 5 in the morning, I could complete the essay in fine style.
Find out the way God has made you, skylark, night owl,
and work with the grain of your life, not against it.
But most of all, keep asking, what do you want Lord, what pleases you?
Time spent with Christ is never time wasted.
Lord, we bring you the week we have just been through
things that we enjoyed, achievements, experiences, unexpected blessings
and we thank you for them
we bring you the things that went wrong or where we were wrong
and reacted in ways that were irritable, impure, greedy, selfish
Forgive us through the forgiving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and encourage us we face this week
to know what is important, what should come first at different times
whether prayer or family or work or leisure
and may we do al that we do, whatever it is, with thanksgiving
living in and radiating your light, as people fragrant with Christ.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
and as you sing praise with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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