Rejection has stolen our identity and given us counterfeit replacements for feeling self-worth; one of them being constant busyness. We have been trained culturally into a lifestyle of constant activity, drivenness and striving. At the end of the day, we feel crunched for time, and we long for some much needed time off. When we get time off, however, we quickly fill up the empty space with more activity and tasks. Too many come back from vacation stating they need a vacation from their vacation.
No One’s Doing Anything About It
Everyone complains about having no margin, but very few are doing anything about it. A lot of this is because there is a spiritual assault that has come against humanity to keep them in a daily grind. People want to be free from this, but fail to realize there is an invisible enemy creating resistance towards people living a rested and whole life.
This is why Paul wrote in Ephesians to “redeem the time, because the days are evil.” The word redeem speaks of taking back, recovering and rescuing, by payment of a price. It also speaks of making wise and sacred use of every opportunity. Have you ever thought of your time as being a sacred gift from God that needs to be watched over wisely; and in some cases taken back when it has been stolen?
Wisdom With Our Time
God knows that if we do not look to take hold of our time and use it wisely, we will get ensnared into the world’s system of constant going and doing. Most people never think that constant busyness has an evil source behind it, but look at the struggles of most “busy” people:
- Spending quality time with God.
- Spending quality time with family.
- Lack of joy. Can’t slow down and enjoy things.
- Too much to do.
- Feeling overwhelmed, overburdened and overloaded.
- Struggling to feel peaceful and being comfortable with being still.
Are you aware that our adversary can craft a spiritual agenda to keep us from what is most important in life? Sometimes all Satan has to do is just keep us too busy to deal with what is important.
A Spiritual Assault
It is my conviction that one of the clear spiritual enemies at work in the climate of developed nations is busyness. We become quickly dragged by an ever-increasing array of tasks that seem to pop up in front of us. Our lives become always about the next event and the next thing. So we fail to stop, reflect, and enjoy what just happened.
Busyness has trained us to always project forward, so we are rarely ever engaged in the present. People cannot seem to settle emotionally. They lack a daily sense of rest. Sitting still without some kind of stimulation is torturous for most, so we keep the schedule full. Then, when we actually get some open time, we fill it with activities that do not replenish us, like watching television, playing video games or checking social media. No wonder we are so tapped out!
Awaiting every hyper-busy person is the torment of guilt. Too often the important things of life get set aside at the mercy of hectic living. At the end of the day, the super-busy person is laden with guilt over the fact they did not spend quality time with their spouse, children, friends or God. Yet, because they are addicted and trapped to the daily grind, they are not able to get out of this vicious cycle.
Question: Where does busyness seem to creep into your life. Feel free to comment below.