“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”~ Elisabeth Elliott ~
We have been studying I Thessalonians during Sunday worship and some lessons from these studies will fit with this quote. As believers the will of God for our lives will be found in His Word. Some of the key thoughts for us as believers found in I Thessalonians are to live in love, live a quiet life that reflects Christ to people who don’t know him, do our part to strengthen the body by encouraging our leaders, use wisdom as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, and take responsibility for each other. In order to live this way we need the courage to say no to other things in our lives that just don’t matter for eternity. We need to say no to schedules that make us run all day without accomplishing anything and without having anything to do with building Christ’s kingdom.
This quote is so timely for this Christmas season that is upon us! What a great reminder that the God who created us has time for us and He will give us the strength to do everything we truly need to do. I think the key thought here is that we are taking our daily needs and lists to God. When we truly are centered in this way our strength and reliance will come from Him and the things that do not get accomplished will not beat us down.
I Thessalonians 4: 11 ~ “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,”
Mathew 6:34 ~ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
To read more thoughts on this quote go to Motherhood and Beyond.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Great thoughts. Bless you for sharing.
yes, the keyword is “NEED” to do….
staying focused on what HE wants for us…
great reference!
thanks for sharing this morning!
lori
Thank you so much for your wisdom this morning. I am truly enjoying reading everyone’s posts and yours is definitely included. Thank you!
Great post!
Yes, we truly need to put into practice that exhortation in Matt. 6:34. God knew best, we can’t handle any more then today.
Blessings to you!
Susan
PS Here is my new blog address:
http://susan2956.blogspot.com/
Susan
God’s Word does give us clear instructions on how to spend our time, we just have a tendency to add lots of other things to it, don’t we? Thanks for the Scriptures.
“The courage to say no to other things in our lives that don’t matter for eternity”.
That is a very powerful sentence!
I totally agree with Susanne, that statement was powerful. Thanks for posting today!
Thanks for the Godly wisdom.
What a wonderful truth you shared! Thank you!
Be Blessed!
This was wonderful. I am just loving this quote. Thank you for sharing!
Lisa
Thanks for sharing and reminding us that many times our schedules are full of things to do, but we squeeze anything of eternal significance out of our daily lives.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and highlighting those verses for us.What a “timely” reminder for us as we go into the most hurried and harried time of the year.
I love your closing sentence. That is truly the key. When we are centered on Him and depending on Him completely, the things we don’t accomplish will not nag at us and make us anxious. I’m enjoying the thoughts on this quote so much.
Amen, when I am stressing my Dad always asks me, “so in the scope of eternity does that problem make a difference?” It helps to put things into perspective.
Love this verse!
I Thessalonians 4: 11 ~ “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,”