What Time Is It?

My word for the year is TIME. My question for the year, then, is "what time is it?" As I said in a previous post, this question will not be answered simply in numbers, or by some otherwise arbitrary accounting for where and when we are in the universe. Instead, it will be answered by a focus and courage and humility to live in the moment, and love, serve, think, and act in such a way that might, God willing, bring more hope and more Jesus to bear in our crazy world.

A big part of answering this question becomes very practical and relates to how we prioritize. When I think about how to prioritize my time, my activities, my energy, or my resources, I think about it in categories. To be honest, I tend to think of almost everything in categories. I am a sucker for the 2-3 point sermon; if you are a preacher and you don't outline your sermon in 2-3 points, that is ok, I will process it that way no matter what!

VISION FOR PRIORITIZATION

Ecclesiastes 3 gives us what I think is a helpful vision for prioritization. It begins:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

I'll stop there for a moment. Do you know what that sentence means? One thing I think it could mean is you will get to everything you need to get to in God's sovereignty. Nothing will be left undone that needs to be done. Right away this helps us relax a bit. My ability to prioritize my life, dare I say "be productive", depends first on my surrendering to the reality that my life is short, God is sovereign and, ultimately, he holds all of my life in his hands, and nothing of significance or necessity will miss its "season". The author of Ecclesiastes continues:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

What these verses say to me is that every day, every week, every month, every year, and every decade is different. That means that our approach to "prioritizing" our life will look different in every season, and this gives us both flexibility and expectation. The vision for prioritization from the Bible, then, is to take a seasonal approach to our life and activities. This helps so much with expectations. You may not love the season you are in right now. But what time is it? Is it time to casually read a book or play golf with friends, or is it time to die to self and spend quality time with and serve your family? Is it time to laugh, or is it a time to weep?

FOUNDATION FOR PRIORITIZATION

With that vision in mind, we need a foundation, and the Bible does not disappoint. Jesus does not disappoint. He says in Matthew 6:33:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

My first reaction to this verse, because of my sinful heart, and even though I know the verses prior, is "what things, Lord? Tell me about the things I will get back? Give me all the things!" Jesus then looks at me with a disappointed smile and reminds me of the verses prior: do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will wear. Clothes and food sound a lot to me like life's priorities. Do not be anxious about where you will live, or whom you will marry, or where you will work, or what you will have for lunch (this last one is particularly hard for me). Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Do not be anxious about how you will schedule your weeknights, or whether your son and daughter will play soccer or baseball, or do dance or theater, or what school they should go to. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Now, surely you know this does not mean do not think about these things and expect the answers to come automatically. There is wisdom and discernment needed, and it all comes from Jesus, and unfortunately that will have to be a separate blog post. But the foundation for prioritization from the Bible is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, in every season, no matter the circumstances. What does this look like practically? I have a few ideas.

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

First, prioritize faithfulness always, and fruitfulness seasonally. This idea was groundbreaking for me and came from the book The Gospel at Work by Greg Gilbert and Sebastian Traeger. I have often "ranked" my priorities as God, Family, Work, and Church; my relationship with God first, my relationship with my wife and daughter second, my responsibilities in my profession and calling third, and my participation and service at my local church fourth. This always seemed like an easy, straight forward way to prioritize and make decisions about activities and such. Until something semi-urgent in priority three came at the same time as something extra-urgent in priority four. Using this ranking system, what do you do when a crisis at work runs up against a normally stressful day at home? How do you choose? Is it always the higher priority "ranking" that takes precedent?

The faithfulness and fruitfulness balance helps alleviate this conflict. We are called to be faithful in all areas of life, in every season, but God may call us in certain seasons to dedicate extra capacity or energy to one specific area to be extra fruitful. There is a minimum standard of faithfulness in every arena of life, and by "minimum" I do not mean small; the "minimum" standard in marriage for the husband is to love your wife as Christ loved the Church and DIED for her. Some minimum! In every arena we should avoid idleness. But sometimes there is a place to invest in being extra fruitful in certain arenas for certain seasons. For example, as much as I resist this because I would not choose it, I believe God is calling me to pursue extra fruitfulness in my professional life right now. Yet, I have only been married for seven years and have so much to learn and so many areas to grow in loving my wife, and I have a new daughter, and I serve as an Elder at my local church, so marriage, fatherhood, and service to the church can not fall below faithfulness in this season. But all of those areas may not require additional fruitfulness for this season. The opposite ditch to avoid of course in this approach is idolatry. I don't want to be idle in my spiritual life, home life, or church life, but I also don't want to become idolatrous in my work life. "Faithfulness, then fruitfulness, avoid idolatry," says Gilbert and Traeger.

Second, prioritize 8pm to Midnight. This idea came to me from Kevin DeYoung's helpful little book Crazy Busy. We talk a lot about prioritizing the morning hours, or even through the day about which times we feel most energetic and productive (some people are morning people, some people thrive in the afternoons). But think about the missed opportunities if we squander the hours from 8pm to Midnight. This concept depends so much on your season, but think about the opportunity in this window of time to focus on and grow intimacy in your marriage; emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Maybe you have older kids; think about the opportunity in this time frame to spend quality time with your kids, maybe reading or helping with homework, or watching a game and teaching them about box scores, or just hanging out. Think about the opportunity for relaxed and meaningful reading in the quiet hours. Think about the opportunity for non-distracted work activities, if you are in a season of extra responsibility professionally. Think about the opportunity for dessert or fellowship with friends or neighbors who you don't get to see very often, and maybe need encouragement the ministry of presence.

Think about this. I have a novel idea. What if you spent half or more of the minutes between 8pm and Midnight SLEEPING? Do you ever wonder when the saints of old, or the productivity gurus of today, who talk about getting started at 4am or so, went to bed at night? It was not Midnight, I assure you. Get some sleep! Depending on the season, going to bed at 8pm or so is a brilliant and godly decision.

Third, prioritize relationships over results. As you prioritize, developing and deepening relationships with people should be more important than results from completed responsibilities. We should be, we must be, content with lack of productivity in this life. Two books have been instrumental in my growth in this area, which by the grace of God started at a point of obsession with productivity and is arriving closer at this mysterious contentment, which actually makes us way more "productive" in the economy of Scripture and the kingdom of God.

The first one is Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, by Dr. Richard Swenson. This book makes a convincing argument that the age we live in (it was written in 2004) makes us more susceptible to overload than at any other place or time in history. The example that is most memorable to me is that one daily edition of The New York Times contains more information than a Engishman of the 18th Century would have been exposed to in a lifetime. If that is true, it stands to reason we need to be vert intentional about combating this risk of overload with margin. The book goes on to help us think through practical ways - or "prescriptions" - to build margin into our lives, and to do so for the primary purpose to have space to be in relationship with others. The goal is not to build margin to get more done; that is the "myth of progress", according to Swenson; it will only lead to more overload. The goal is to build margin for relationships, and see the transforming freedom and joy (albeit maybe lack of results) change communities and people.

The second book is What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done, by Matt Perman. This is perhaps the most unique and practical book I have ever read. It combines theological wisdom with time management best practices in a brilliant symphony. Among other things, it helped me realize that all "work" is service to people, so when we consider the concept of "getting things done", whether it applies to my to-do list at the office, or in church ministry, or at home with my family, it all should be centered on serving others. Do "all things" to the glory of God, says the Apostle Paul, and know that your labor is not in vain.

Fourth, prioritize gratitude over obligation. This idea came from Hannah Anderson, author of All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment. I heard it on the Mere Fidelity podcast where she was the guest discussing this book. The concept is that we should choose our activities (or priorities) out of gratitude rather than obligation. Instead of thinking through all the things we have to do, we should stop and express gratitude to God for all the things we get to do in the first place, and then out of that gratitude we lean in to what God has for us, discerning His will as best we can with Scripture as our guide, and trusting his sovereignty in our decisions made with that posture. If we choose out of gratitude, we will face all activities with joy, humility, and patience. If we choose out of obligation, we will face our activities with a burden of responsibility and even guilt, and ultimately our approach will probably be selfish in nature. That certainly has been my experience. Also, if we approach our priorities out of gratitude rather than obligation, it may actually help us discern between those things that God has created us or is calling us to do, and those that may either not be necessary or not be helpful. Something to consider.

What time is it for you?