Ain't Nobody Got Time For That

I unpacked late yesterday from a week on the road, traveling to Nashville for the birth of our new grandson and then driving on to Cleveland to spend several days with our other young grandchildren while our oldest daughter was getting things ready to leave on vacation.  The grandkids give a new definition to the word, "active."  And I love every minute of it.

Last night I slept soundly, my gramma "radar" finally turned off, no need to listen for cries in the night and the sound of little feet, or for a call from Nashville announcing, "The baby is here!"   Throughout the week, God reminded me of those days when a successful day was one in which the laundry got done, the kids were fed, and I was able to get a shower.  Somewhere along the line,  I have lost my skill in maximizing those ten minute pockets when the kids are all napping at the same time.

No matter our season in life, we all are faced with situations when time is not big enough to wrap around the list of things to be done.  My own tendency is to bounce from one thing to another, touching, reacting, and completing nothing, all the while wasting time tripping over speed bumps of fear and worry.

My situation cries out "panic."  But ain't nobody got time for that.  The world says "prioritize," which at times misses that which is most significant of all.  I have learned from experience to use the other "p" word.  PRAY.  Really? You don't understand how busy I am.  "Ain't nobody got time to pray," when in actuality, we can't afford not to.

"LORD, show me how to navigate this day.  Open my eyes to YOUR ways, YOUR portals, and YOUR solutions.  Help me to KNOW what is needful and to lay aside the unnecessary or turn away from what distracts."  God points to me what is needful.  And oh, more times than not, it is a way of seeing things differently or a path not yet on my own radar.

One thing is needful.   That is my relationship with God.  And when that is first, it is amazing how clearly I can see what needs to be done, how to do it, and even what order to do it.  Trust me.  God's deliverance does not land in a neatly wrapped package on my doorstep.  His deliverance works me through my day.

But the Lord answered her,
"Martha, Martha,
you are anxious and troubled
about many things;
       one thing is needful."

                      Luke 10. 41-42