I wasn’t sure what to make with the reading today. The rules of our judges, Tola and Jair, comprise a total of 45 years. We don’t see any big conquests or bloodshed. Personally, that’s a bit of a relief for me.
We also don’t see the familiar “cycle” called out of (1) Israel’s rebellion and turning away from God, followed by (2) oppression from a foreign power, followed by (3) crying out to God for help, and (4) God raising up a judge to rescue his people. After the fiasco with Abimelech, it’s almost as if we see a “reboot” going on. God was giving the people a bit of a reprieve by having back-to-back judges to keep the peace for this period of time.
Sometimes we need to do that in our own lives. We can get so busy and caught up in “going through the motions” that we let our relationship with God suffer. We need to “reboot” and take stock of what’s important.
One way we can do this is to clear our schedule and guard our time. I talked with two different colleagues this week, and the common theme was boundaries. One was trying to apologize that she didn’t have time to get together until the end of May because she had seriously overbooked herself and wasn’t living the life of abundance God promises. The other turned down a lucrative opportunity to appear on a podcast when the host reached out to her in a panic trying to fill a slot at the last minute.
If we don’t guard our time, nobody else is going to do it. For years and years, I prided myself on being able to get a lot of things done. In fact, I coined the identity of “time whisperer” because productivity seemed to be a superpower. I would often wonder why other people weren’t able to do the same. We are all given the same 24 hours. How we spend that time is up to us.
When you look at what you spend your time doing, are you happy with your schedule? I often ask my clients, if money wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing today? Then we work together to make some of those things happen. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Better yet, when it’s God’s will, the way opens up!
Do you need to do a little reboot in your life? Does having a clean slate or a do-over sound like a good thing for you right now? Ask God to show you how you should be spending your time.
Let’s pray …
Lord, thank you for the reminder today to slow down and guard my time. I want to live in your will and be as productive as I can to further your kingdom. I pray you will use my life to be a testimony to others. Continue to build me up and fill my mind with your truth. Draw me closer to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
